Percabeth oneshots
by suckywriting
Summary: Ok, I just felt like I want to write a bunch of Percabeth oneshots, and so I'll just keep them all here. Pretty much all fluff and such! Unless of course what you read turns out differently. Please review so I can keep improving!:) Some au, some aren't. They can also be drabbles, I guess.
1. Chapter 1

Percy was probably more nervous than he ever was in his whole life, which was saying a lot, considering he almost died on a daily basis thanks to monsters, angry gods, etc. etc.

Today he was going on his first date with Annabeth, his first girlfriend ever. It was crazy to think that he found someone that actually liked him. She was just so beautiful and smart and strong, he was lucky enough for her to like him back. They've been going out for a few weeks or so after the war with Kronos, but he hasn't gone on a date with her yet because he was so worried about actually going on one. They recently came back from Camp Half-Blood, and school was starting soon, so he thought he should go on one date with Annabeth before they went to Goode.

So for a date, he finally decided to just go to the mall, watch a movie, and maybe go for some cheeseburgers. He knew that sounded a little lame, but he didn't want to go all out, and didn't want to do something to cheesy or stupid. He decided on that because he thought it was perfect for some normal teenagers going on a date, not that they were anything near normal. And because really, cheeseburgers were just always appropriate for anything. That didn't stop him from being anxious, though. Percy paced around his room, trying to decide what to wear. Percy put his hand in his pocket, searching through the cotton and lint for Riptide. He tightened his fingers around the cool ballpoint pen, which always just made him feel a little calmer no matter the situation. He was going to meet Annabeth at the mall a few blocks down from his apartment in an hour. Percy just took a shower, and tried his best with combing his unruly hair. He looked through his closet, trying to collect his thoughts.

He stood there for some time, not doing anything. Percy sighed in frustration and just grabbed his well-worn Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He put a hoodie over it, and put on his cleanest jeans. He looked at himself in the mirror, and shrugged. _Oh well, good enough. Let's just make this first date perfect._

He went to the kitchen, and picked up his wallet. His mom came in, giving Percy that _oh my gods look at my baby all grown up now_ look.

"Are you ready for your first date, Percy?" she smiled.

"Yeah, I'm going to leave now." he replied. She eyed his clothes with a look of worry.

"Wait. I'll help you get into a better outfit." she said, although it sounded more like an order. Percy groaned on the inside, but knew his mom was just trying to help. She grabbed his arm and tugged him back to his room. Percy knew he had no choice but to go along with it.

Annabeth frowned, and twirled one more time in the mirror. Was this really a good idea? Today was her first date with Percy, and she had no idea what to wear. Gods, she felt shallow for worrying so much about this, but she couldn't help it. She was wearing a red sundress with floral print ornamenting the fabric. This was the fourth outfit she tried on, but everything just seemed uglier and more stupid when she wore it. She thought better of the sundress, because it was too girly and there was a forecast with a high chance of rain later in the day. She checked the clock, and it read 11:30. She had thirty minutes until she would meet Percy at the mall near his house.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She was actually going on a _date_ with Percy Jackson. Not on a quest or a suicide mission, but an actual date. For years she had a crush on him, but it seemed like that poor fool was too ignorant to notice, until he _did_. Annabeth's feelings grew much stronger over the course of last week, when he finally kissed her. Or really, she kissed him. Either way, she was in a state of euphoria after that, floating in the clouds. She took a deep breath, and changed into jeans, and a comfy gray sweater with an owl print on it. She wrapped a scarf around her neck, and decided this was her outfit, because there was no time. She looked at her hair, which was tied up into a messy ponytail. There were times when people would tell her that she should do something with her hair. She would respond that it was meaningless and would just create more work for her. Annabeth ran her hand through her hair, and wondered differently now. Now that she looked at it, it looked really messy and hastily done. She tried letting her hair down, and her golden curls tumbled around her shoulders.

_Okay, what's the worst that could happen? _

She grabbed her purse and she was out the door.

Percy knew this was going to happen. Now his outfit consisted of a button down shirt tucked into his jeans, he had a tie, and his mom insisted on gelling his hair. He didn't want to turn her down because she was so earnest about it. Now he regretted it, but there was no time now anyways. He checked his watch, and it was 11:55. The movie was going to start in ten minutes. Luckily he was able to get here early, despite all the fussing his mom did. He was sitting on a bench, and searching the crowds of people around him for Annabeth. His leg was jiggling, and his fingers were restless against his thigh. He tried to force himself to calm down, but it wasn't working. He flickered his eyes around the crowd, and he saw her.

He took a sharp breath, and his heart thumped against his chest. Annabeth was wearing jeans, a gray sweater and a scarf. Her hair was down, and it took him by surprise by how good she looked. Her hair fell around her shoulders, and her stormy gray eyes matched the clouds that were overcast. She didn't seem to be trying to dress up, but it didn't matter.

She smiled at him, and his heart stopped. Oh gods, he wasn't going to be able to do this. He managed to weakly wave her over, grinning.

She jogged over, and he bit his cheek to stop himself from grinning like a fool. "You look… different."

Annabeth looked taken aback. "Really? Is it bad? I'm sorry, my hair's a mess, huh?" she looked flustered now.

Shoot, shoot, he messed up. "Uh, no! That's not what I meant. You just kinda look really nice today. Um, sorry."

She seemed to recover, and smirked. "Percy, did you really gel your hair?"

He put his hand to his head self-consciously. He nervously laughed, and said, "Yeah. Mom fussed a little too much about it. First date and all-" He stopped himself. Did he just admit that this was his first date ever?And that his mom did his hair for him? He felt like crawling into a hole and letting the harpies devour him. "Well, we should go get the tickets for the movie." He looked away, and walked towards the ticket booth. Percy decided they should watch _Frozen, _a movie that was popular enough to be in theaters for over five months. He worried it might be too kiddish, though. He examined the theaters, and the line for tickets was packed today. Annabeth stood by him, waiting.

_Ugh I should have bought the tickets beforehand, what am I doing? So much for perfect._ He cursed himself.

They waited for thirty minutes until they reached the front. Percy walked up to the ticket guy, and said, "Two Frozen tickets for 12:05, please."

The man responded, "Sorry, Frozen is sold out for the whole day."

Panicked, Percy scanned the movies available. Every movie was sold out for another four hours. "Uh, well nevermind then." He awkwardly paced. He looked at Annabeth, but he couldn't read her expression. Worry clouded his heart, and he asked Annabeth, "Well, should we grab lunch first then?"

"Yeah, I'm hungry anyways." Annabeth said. _Okay, just don't ruin this, Percy. Perfect, remember? _ He reminded himself. Percy got a hold himself and started his way over to the restaurant.

Annabeth felt bad, but she just wanted to laugh. First, it was the adorable outfit Sally forced Percy in, then how he seemed so _worried_. He looked great, though. Percy seemed to be able to pull almost anything off, whether it be tacky ties or monster slime. And Annabeth thought _she_ was going to have an anxiety attack. She just wanted to grab Percy's face, and assure him that they could be taking out trash together and she would be fine if it meant being with him. Like really, they've both seen each other beat up, grimy, and on the verge of death. They already saw pretty much the worse parts of each other, so there was no need to be worried to make this perfect.

Percy led her into a restaurant, and the first thing that hit her was the smell. There was a _lot _of people here, which didn't help the stench. It was a gross mix of sweat, old leather and greasy food. Percy noticed it too, and wrinkled his nose. He walked up to the waiter, and said "Uh, table for two, please?"

The waiter scanned the packed restaurant, and replied, "That will be another forty minutes, sir." Percy looked like he saw a ghost.

"Okay, thank you." he said. He looked beat down, now, not knowing what to do.

Annabeth's heart hurt, he was trying so hard for her, it was endearing. She slipped his hand into hers, and looked up at him."You know, do you just want to go to your house and watch a movie there? Maybe grab some pizza."

He looked surprised, but agreed. He called a pizza place to deliver at his house, and they started walking to his house. Annabeth was enjoying the little walk, until it started raining. A lot. She squealed and started dragging Percy towards his house.

By the time they got there, Percy and Annabeth were drenched. Annabeth breathed hard from running, and looked at Percy. He seemed to have given up. Annabeth asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, just… Gods, this was just horrible. I'm so sorry, I couldn't even succeed in taking you to the movies. And this is the second time." He said, and Annabeth remembered that time they were going to the movies as friends, but then demon _empousai_ had attacked Percy, and burned down part of his school. Then Rachel was with him, and… Yeah. She and Rachel were friends now, so everything was good.

"Hey. it's okay. Really." Annabeth said. Percy didn't reply and they walked in together. Sally saw them, and gasped. "Oh, my! You guys are drenched! Do you want some hot chocolate? Lunch?"

Percy nodded and answered, "Well, we ordered pizza, but hot chocolate would be good."

Sally smiled and went to the kitchen. Percy plopped down on the couch, and Annabeth sat down next to him. They sat there in comfortable silence, until Sally brought them hot chocolate. "Well, I have some errands to run, so I'll leave you two." She winked at Percy, and his face flamed.

"Mom, please!" Percy exclaimed. Annabeth laughed, and Sally left the apartment. He groaned, which only made her laugh harder. He seemed to lighten up at that, and the atmosphere cleared.

The pizza guy came, and Percy paid him. When the pizza guy left, Percy set down the pizza on the table in front of them.

"Well, I guess we should just watch a movie here." Percy said.

"Sure, what do you have? Uh, Disney or Pixar please?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, there's _The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Toy Story-" _

"_Finding Nemo_," they both agreed instantaneously. He smiled at her, and Annabeth's heart jumped.

They snuggled in the couch together, feasting on pizza and hot chocolate, but something wasn't right. She looked up at Percy, and his eyebrows were furrowed together like they did whenever he was worried. Nemo's mom just died, and he didn't seem to notice. Now that wasn't right.

"Hey, are you alright? I mean, the mom just died." Annabeth said, wiping her watery eyes.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to focus." Percy replied.

"Is it still about how our date was kinda ruined?" Annabeth questioned. Percy met her eyes, and knew she was right. "Percy, I told you it's fine, it's not a big deal-"

"Yes, it is! It's our first date, and I couldn't make it perfect. I couldn't even go to the movie theater, and the restaurant was horrible. I just wanted this to be a really nice day with just you and me. Gods, I sound sappy." Percy groaned.

Annabeth's face flushed, it was so cute how serious he was about this. Normally he always seemed so aloof, Annabeth was worried she was too hung up on everything.

"And now we're sitting at my tiny apartment and eating cheap pizza sitting in the old couch." Percy added.

Annabeth turned towards him sharply, and countered, "Percy. You don't have to treat me like I'm a spoiled princess or anything. Don't be so worried! Okay, Percy, I really don't care _what_ we're doing, I just know I like everything a whole lot better as long I'm with you!"

Percy seemed so surprised by that, it was funny. "Like, really. If I just wanted to date you because of where you'll take me and what you'll buy me, what will that make me? We've known each other for half a decade, and the whole time I just wanted to be there with _you_. Half the time it drove me near insanity, I didn't know why you had to make me feel this way. There were times I missed you when you left me to go get me a glass of punch! Or sometimes we were fighting some stupid monster and it almost killed us but I was the happiest girl in the world for some reason because you were at my side. I was confused for years, and now we finally kissed and we're dating and the _least_ of my worries is what we did or will do on our date." Annabeth realized she was rambling, and bit her lower lip to shut herself up.

Percy seemed to be speechless, and Annabeth just burrowed her head into his shirt to hide the color in her cheeks. "Gods, why did I ever fall for someone like you?" Annabeth mumbled into his warm chest.

Percy laughed for real this time, and held her closer. "Maybe because of my awesomeness and incredibly good looks?"

Annabeth pulled Percy in, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

She rolled her eyes, and replied, "Just shut up and kiss me, Seaweed Brain."

Annabeth remembered the familiar taste of the sea in his lips, and almost couldn't kiss him again because she couldn't stop smiling.

Percy lay in his couch and stared at the ceiling. Annabeth went home just a few minutes ago, after the movie ended. Not that either of them were really paying attention to the film, anyways. They were too busy snuggling in each other's warmth and just talking about whatever came to their minds. They also just kind of made out.

He was stupidly happy with their first date like a thirteen year-old girl. Percy remembered how nervous he was about making this first date perfect, and laughed at himself. Percy should've known that someone like him and Annabeth didn't really _do_ perfect. He grabbed the T.V remote and replayed _Finding Nemo_, since he didn't really watch it the first time.

As he was relaxing, he realized Annabeth was right. Nothing really mattered as long as they were with each other.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Okay, my second oneshot! It's an AU, with Annabeth having a crush on lifeguard!Percy. I'm still new to this, so please leave reviews and follow, because I feel like I'll be writing more random oneshots for this amazing ship. Since it's Annabeth, it might be a little OOC for her to act like this, haha. K bye!

/

Annabeth wished that summer would never be over. To be more specific, she wished the lifeguard at the town swimming pool would never leave. Annabeth was currently lounging at the smelly pool, dipping her feet in at the shallow end and staring at the lifeguard. Scrunching her nose, she knew it was only because of the lifeguard Annabeth even thought of sticking around. She only knew his name because of of someone occasionally hollering for him, and that he was the most gorgeous thing that Annabeth ever laid her eyes on. She even fell in love with his name, Percy. He had the looks of a god, with stark black hair and sea-green eyes. He looked about 16~17, just about Annabeth's age. He worked in two-hour shifts from 2~4 on Monday through Friday. And no, she did not stalk him to gain this information. She just hung around at the pool long enough to take notes on his schedule. It also helped her get this amazing tan, so it did have benefits.

She first saw him when she was forced to take her little stepbrothers to the town pool. Her eyes fell on his amazing body resting in the lifeguard chair, nonchalantly fanning himself and eating ice cream. Annabeth got so distracted she almost didn't notice when one of her little brothers, Bobby, started drowning. In the end, he was fine so it didn't really matter. She came everyday after that for the next two months or so, just staring at him from a safe distance hidden between sweaty old ladies and crying children. He was tall, muscular, and tan. He wasn't a jerk though, somehow. It was almost science, if you're super hot, there's a 99.9% you are the type of person to kick baby owls if they're standing in front of you without kissing the ground you walk upon. Well, obviously Percy fell into that .1%. He was kind to all the screaming kids no matter how much they barfed, and stayed super friendly to whatever senior started a conversation with him about their ingrown toe or something. Despite that, Annabeth wasn't able to talk to him the whole summer, nor get him to notice Annabeth was alive. It made Annabeth want to offer herself as a sacrifice just by looking the boy, how can she try to talk to him? When she was younger, she imagined her years as a teen as going out with her friends, having a super cute boyfriend, and studying hard to go to the most prestigious college imaginable. Now she was spending lonely days at the pool, skipping summer school. Annabeth wasn't dumb, she excelled in math and science. But she just couldn't agree with history; it always felt so _wrong_. Anyways, it seemed that Annabeth was at least able to find a cute boy, and if she was lucky enough, boyfriend. Hopefully before school started in two weeks. If she can ever get the guts to talk to the fool, that is.

Annabeth fidgeted in her bikini. She bought a new one yesterday, just in that tiny hope that the lifeguard would notice. It was an orange halter-top bikini, and had a quite uncomfortable bottom. She squirmed one more time, promising herself to buy better bikinis next time. She looked up to find the lifeguard, and then almost fell into the pool.

_He was looking at her_.

To make sure she wasn't dreaming, she snuck one more look at Percy. He was. She quickly averted her eyes, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt.

The bikini worked! She'll wear this forever from now on, when she gets old and fat she'll have to stay in shape just so she can fit into this. Annabeth's heart raced, and she couldn't seem to lift her head up again. She tried to quietly slip into the pool, and sunk as low so the water was right under her nose. When she worked up enough courage to look up again, she was shocked to find that Percy was gone.

_Where'd he go?_

Annabeth turned around, and almost fainted when she found Percy nose-to-nose with her. Percy's amazing face was leaning down to face her. He was sitting on the edge of the pool, as though he was about to get in.

"OHMY- um. Well, how did you- when did you- uh, hi Percy." Annabeth stuttered. Wait, why did she say his name!?

"How do you know my name?" Percy asked. Wow, he looked hot when he furrowed his eyebrows together like that. Also, his voice was calm and deep, it sounded like silk to her ears. He could be reading her history textbook out loud to her, and she could listen to him all day.

_Oh my gods, Annabeth, just shut up. Please. Just don't talk ever again._

"Oh, I just kinda heard it while I was around, you know." _And when I was stalking you relentlessly for the past two months and a half._ Annabeth mentally added.

"Really? Well, you are a regular, so-"

"You've noticed me?" Annabeth stopped herself. Wow, that sounded needy. And she cut him off. This was going just great.

"Haha, yeah, you come everyday. I would be blind to not notice you." His cheeks colored as he said that last line.

_He knew I was here the whole time?_ Annabeth's legs felt wobbly, so she resorted to lightly treading. In the shallow side.

"So-" Annabeth's voice cracked. She winced, and tried again. "So, a lifeguard?"

"Yeah, I always loved swimming, and I needed a part time job over the summer for tutoring. I kinda suck at Pre-Calc, so I need all the help I can get." He scratched the back of his neck. He looked like an adorable baby when he did that, it made Annabeth want to kiss him. Wow, she was sick.

Wait, tutoring? In Pre-Calc? That was Annabeth's specialty. She just might have a chance.

"So, are you getting tutored right now?" Annabeth questioned hopefully.

"Nah, I don't have enough money saved up yet to find a good enough tutor." Percy replied.

_Yes!_

"You know, I could try to tutor you, for free. I don't know if I look it, but I'm pretty good at Pre-Calc." Annabeth offered. _Please, please-_

"For free? Really? But I don't even know you!" Percy gasped.

_Ouch._ Well, it was true. Of course it didn't feel that way to Annabeth.

"It's fine. I mean, I don't have much else to do, and you're cute enough too." Did Annabeth just say that? Please don't tell her that she just said that. She sounded like she tutored cute boys to feast on their flesh or something.

Before she can recover, something was off about Percy. He suddenly seemed really interested in the water, and he was blushing. A lot. Was he getting flustered? Over Annabeth?

Percy chuckled, and said, "Bold, aren't you? Um, sure. Wanna go to Starbucks after my shift so we can, uh, work things out about my tutoring?"

_Yes, yes, YES!_ Annabeth nearly squealed. "Sounds like a da- study date." She corrected herself. Percy seemed to notice anyways, and smiled at her. Annabeth's confidence slowly went up.

Suddenly some kid barfed again, so Percy had to go. He stood up, and looked back at her. "Wait, I never even learned your name."

"Annabeth," she said. Percy flashed one last stunning grin at her, and ran after the poor kid to clean up the mess. Annabeth got out of the pool, and wrapped the towel around her dripping body. She should've been cold after just taking a dip in the pool, but she just felt very, very warm.

She headed towards the women's changing room, smiling to herself as she got ready for her Starbucks date.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: a super short continuation of the lifeguard!Percy au. Enjoy! And thank you for the nice reviews so far, they made me so happy:)

/

Annabeth was here at Starbucks. With Percy.

She took a deep breath and looked up at the menu. She couldn't seem to really focus, and just decided to try their new vanilla macchiato. Percy was next to her, pouting his face in this adorable way while he was contemplating on what drink he wanted. At the pool, he was some hot, unattainable lifeguard that Annabeth could only gaze upon from a considerable distance. Standing here with him, it seemed more normal. He wore a soft-looking gray hoodie, jeans, a wool beanie and Vans. Percy looked like those cute skater boys, although those usually weren't Annabeth's type. Usually.

She realized she was staring at him, but not before Percy noticed. "Like the view?" he gave a light laugh.

Annabeth fought to stay calm, and replied, "Nah, something's on your face."

Percy looked genuinely alarmed, and nearly slapped himself. "What? Where?"

Annabeth smirked, and looked back at the menu, like she hadn't already chosen her drink.

They got to the front, and the cashier asked, "Hello! What would you like today?"

"Uh, I'll get a venti java-chip frap with extra caramel." Percy ordered. _Fancy much?_ Annabeth thought. "You?" It was a moment before Annabeth realized that Percy was talking to her. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at him, only to get more raised eyebrows in advance.

"I'll get a grande vanilla macchiato, please." Annabeth managed.

"Name?" the cashier asked.

"Percy," he answered.

"That will be 8.45, please." Percy fished out his wallet, and paid her. It was a small gesture, but Annabeth loved how he automatically assumed he was buying the drink for her. It was...gentlemanly. Now, don't get her wrong, Annabeth was not the type to like getting spoiled by her boyfriend, Annabeth detested girls like that. Like really, a girl should be able to provide for herself. But she had to admit, this was something Annabeth could get used to. If this became a regular thing.

Percy secured a table, and they both sat down, quietly waiting for their drinks. Annabeth had very little past dating experience, none of it very good. Looking back on it, she went out with them because she just thought they looked cute enough. There were no real feelings, it might have even been just a way to get more popular. Right now, Annabeth felt more through this little crush than she ever had before. They didn't say anything, but the silence was strangely comfortable. Percy was looking out the window, lightly drumming his fingers on the table.

"Percy?" the barista called.

Percy and Annabeth got up at the same time, and Percy said, "Wait here, I'll get it."

Annabeth smiled and sat down again. Annabeth noticed more little things that he did, like how tapped his fingers on almost anything he walked by, or how he slightly stuck his tongue out while carrying the drinks because he was so focused on not dropping them.

Percy came back, and set the drinks on the table. "Okay, so tutoring."

Annabeth took a small sip, and agreed. "Tutoring."

They let that hang in the air. "Well… We don't have books. So I guess we can't study today?" Percy asked.

"That's fine. We can make a schedule here." Annabeth said.

"Can you come back tomorrow? Here, or.."

"We can just meet at the pool and come here." Annabeth offered.

Percy grinned, and confirmed, "Yeah, sounds great."

"Tutoring? Or because you get to see me again?" Annabeth teased.

Percy laughed, and Annabeth's heart fluttered. He didn't answer, but the rosiness in his cheeks gave it away.

"How old are you?" Annabeth asked. Pre-Calc? Then…

"16." Percy responded.

"Huh, you're the same age as me. Are you a junior?"

"Yeah…"

xxx

They kept talking about random things, getting to know each other better. They just seemed to click, having stupid things in common or arguing about what they were different in. Their conversation flowed so easily, time just flew. Annabeth pretty much forgot a long time ago that this was supposed to be a study date. They were obviously now flirting with each other, and Annabeth enjoyed every minute of it. Before, Annabeth liked Percy because of how good looking he was. Now, she just fell in love with his personality. He was charming, and so kind. He was funny without anyone's expense. She was infected by his laugh, and how he crinkled his nose and bunched in his shoulders. They had long finished their drinks, but now the sun was slowly setting in the pink sky. Percy saw, and gathered his things. "Okay, so tomorrow?"

Annabeth smiled at him, and replied, "See you there."

With how things were going, Annabeth just couldn't wait to tell her friends at school about how she got a boyfriend over the summer.


	4. Chapter 4

_SHIPPING PROMPT: COLD TEMPERATURES FORCE CHARACTERS INTO CLOSE PROXIMITY._

A/N: Okay, now Percy and Annabeth aren't going out yet, like 13~14? They're like on some made up quest that never happened. I found this prompt on fanficy-prompts' blog, and thought it was really cute. Enjoy~

/

"_RUN! I can handle myself here, you two go on ahead!" Grover yelled. The catoblepones gathered closer. Stupid cows. Percy didn't know where they went wrong, he just knew that they always did._

"_No! We have to stay together! I'm not leaving you!" Percy yelled back. Percy knew Grover was scared, he could see it in his eyes. He couldn't leave Grover here alone to fight them. The catoblepones' breath was noxious, and Percy fought to breath as little as possible. _

"_You have to!" Grover cried. "You have to take Annabeth somewhere safe! I'll be fine, I'll find you later with your scent!" _

_Percy knew he was right. He looked at Annabeth, whose arm was draped around his shoulder. She had sprained her ankle, and had a nasty gash from an earlier fight on her thigh. She already lost too much blood, Percy could maybe perform some basic first aid if they were somewhere safer. But Grover…_

"_GO! We don't have a choice! I'll just try to lure them somewhere off of our path! I'll find you later. Hurry!" Grover ordered. His voice was slightly shaky, but Percy ignored it. He hated to do this, but Annabeth needed medical attention quickly. He turned away, but Annabeth resisted._

"_No," her voice was raspy. "No, Grover!"_

_Percy pulled her along, and Annabeth flailed against him. "Grover, don't! Please!" she wept._

_Percy tried to ignore her, and kept walking further into the forest trees from Grover and the catoblepones._

"_Please…" Annabeth whimpered._

_xxx_

That was about two hours ago, and Percy's feet felt like mud from dragging Annabeth. The poison didn't help much either. He tightened his grip around Annabeth's waist praying that she would be okay. Percy, Annabeth and Grover were on a quest to retrieve a demigod. Things went sour immediately, and they ran into way too many monsters. So they had called Chiron, and he sent someone else to pick up the demigod. The trio now just had to get back, but got lost and ran into some _catoblepones_. They were already weary from facing different monsters all day, so they were doomed. And then Percy had just _left_ Grover, how could he? Percy shook his head. Grover was able to take care of himself. He had to trust him for now, there was no other choice. _I'm counting on you, Grover._ Percy thought.

The woods were getting dark, but Percy found a little cave they could settle in for the night. Percy could feel the poison coursing through his veins, and knew he had to do something fast. Annabeth stopped crying a while ago, but her cheeks were still stained from the tears. She was deathly pale now, and Percy's stomach went sick. It was too long, she lost too much blood. He propped her up against the cave wall, and checked the wound.

It was hard to look at, with nearly black blood caked her thigh. The blood was dried now, so that seemed to have blocked a little flow. But it looked slightly infected, although Percy wasn't sure. Her ankle was bent at a sick angle, and Percy slightly panicked at the sight.

Annabeth seemed to have read Percy's expression, and softly laughed. "Disgusting, huh?"

Percy blushed, he didn't mean to be so rude. "Uh, sorry."

Annabeth shook her head. "I could barely look at myself." She suddenly winced in pain, and Percy's heart nearly stopped.

Percy didn't know what to do. Why was he so _stupid? _He left Grover, now to only watch Annabeth hurt like this. He fumbled through his pack, and fed Annabeth some ambrosia and nectar, as much as he dared to feed her. His fingers were trembling, although he hoped it wasn't noticeable. He took an ambrosia square and nibbled on it for himself. Annabeth sighed in relief, and Percy felt a little better. This would at least help. He poured a little nectar over the wound, and the infection calmed. He tried to clean the wound as best as he can, while he held Annabeth's hand. Her grip was iron, and she bit her lip to stop from screaming. He tried to be gentle, but he had to clean this effectively. He wound the bandage tightly around her thigh, and decided that this was all he could do. Percy moved over to her ankle, and warned, "This will hurt, I'm sorry." Annabeth curtly nodded, and he set her ankle.

Annabeth sharply gasped, and crushed his fingers. Percy then made a makeshift splint with an old plank he found and the bandage. Annabeth looked a little better now.

He sat down next to her on the cave wall, exhausted. It was ice cold against his back, and the nighttime wasn't helping. He kept holding her hand. He wanted assurance that she was still there, and alive.

Percy felt the winds blowing, and shivered. A fire would attract monsters, and neither of them were in any shape to fight. He looked at Annabeth, who looked only worse than him. "Are you cold?"

Annabeth slightly nodded. He scooted a little closer, and Annabeth looked at him, surprised.

His face flamed, and he said, "Uh, it's a little cold, so I thought… I thought maybe we should try to conserve body heat."

"Yeah, body heat." Annabeth agreed, nudging closer into him. Their arms were flush against each other, and Percy couldn't stop blushing. _Shut up!_ Percy told himself. _We might just die of hypothermia and you can only think about brushing against Annabeth?_

Annabeth then leaned her head into his shoulder. Percy's heart was racing now. "Sorry. I'm just so tired." Percy gulped, and nodded.

They sat there in the night silence, which only scared Percy. Monsters could pop out at any moment, but they wouldn't be able to defend themselves, they were both in horrible shape. He remembered Grover, and mentally slapped himself. He was so busy fussing over Annabeth, but how was Grover? He worried about him, and prayed to whatever god that was listening to keep Grover safe. He tried his empathy link. but he was too distracted to focus. They were there for a while until he felt something drip on his shoulder. He jerked his head, ready to find some stupid monster, but he only found Annabeth crying.

"Hey… you okay?" Percy asked. _You stupid moron, does she look okay?_ he scolded himself.

"Grover… it's all my fault." Annabeth said.

"What are you saying? Don't blame yourself for the monster that hurt you." Percy said. Annabeth did _nothing _wrong, Percy wanted to gut the monster that did this to Annabeth.

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, and more tears fell. "This.. This isn't even the first time! Thalia, and now Grover. He sacrificed himself, only because I was too weak… Why does this always happen?"

"Don't say that! Grover isn't dead, he'll be fine. You have to trust him. He'll come back." Percy intertwined their fingers, assuring her. But it felt like he was reassuring himself more.

"Percy, I can't handle if Grover dies too.." Annabeth whimpered. Percy remembered that it was pretty much only Annabeth and Grover now, Thalia left to be become a Hunter, and Luke…

"He won't. And I'm here, remember?" Percy weakly smiled.

Annabeth turned her face into his shoulder and cried more, fisting balls into his shirt. Percy shifted around so he was hugging her. He pat her back, and didn't say anything. He looked up, trying to ignore the warmth on his cheeks.

After a while, Annabeth slowed down and then went still. He saw her back rise and fall in a regular rhythm. She seemed to have finally fallen asleep. He set Annabeth back up against the wall, and he sat next to her. Annabeth's head started bobbing, so Percy gently set her head against his shoulder. _I guess I'll be first watch,_ Percy thought.

He saw Annabeth's hand lying limply on the floor. Without really thinking, he carefully wove their fingers together. He knew this was really weird, but he didn't want to let go. Despite their horrible day, Percy felt comfortable being here with Annabeth, knowing that they were both virtually okay, and together.

He prayed to the gods one more time about Grover, and watched the stars in the night sky until he slowly drifted off on accident.

xxx

Grover stumbled over some twigs, and he really just wanted to stay on the floor. It took half the night to run away from the _catoblepones, _and he used some woodland magic to hide his scent. After making a safe distance, he spent the other half of the night trying to follow Percy and Annabeth's scent. He was dead tired, although he was able to stop the poison. He needed to get going, Percy and Annabeth were probably worried about him.

Grover groaned and got up, brushing excess twigs and debris off of him. At least Grover could smell that he was almost there, he just needed to hang on.

After walking a mile or so, he saw a little cave. He could smell Percy and Annabeth practically like they were in front of him, so he figured they were crashing in that cave.

Grover made his way over, ready to call for his friends and go home. Since it was daytime now, he could probably find their way back to Camp Half-Blood easily.

He looked in the cave, and faltered. He saw Percy and Annabeth sleeping, with Annabeth's head in Percy's shoulder and Percy's head on Annabeth's head. They looked peaceful, although they were lucky no monster had found them. He looked down and saw their hands intertwined, and Grover couldn't help but to smile a little. They obviously liked each other, they were just too dense.

Grover decided to sit in the cave across from them. He kept watch, so he could let Percy and Annabeth sleep longer. He munched on some spare tin cans he kept with him at all times.

He started to play a melody softly on his reed pipes, and wondered about the day those idiots would finally realize their feelings and get together.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Once again, thanks for the nice reviews! I never get tired of reading them, it makes me so happy. Anyways, Annabeth and Percy are like 15 or so, a tiny bit before the war. Well, it focuses on Annabeth really. Probably very short!

/

Annabeth couldn't help it. It was incredibly degrading, she hated herself. She didn't know how, or when it happened. Or why. Most definitely why. Like really, Camp Half-Blood was in critical condition right now, the end of the world was about to start, any minute now. War was upon them, but Annabeth was hindered by the most stupid problem she thought she would never have. It took her a while to admit it, although she has yet to admit it out loud. Annabeth was jealous.

Now, call her a silly little white girl, but she normally wasn't like this at all. She doesn't know what came over her, this was the worst time for her to feel like this. But were feelings ever something to come at the right place and right time? She knew she liked Percy, it's been a while. It always baffled her why she chose that idiot to like, though. And sometimes Luke… Anyways. She accepted that Percy was too dense for them to ever progress in their relationship with each other. It was okay, she was content being his best friend, fighting back-to-back with him. _Very _content. Annabeth slashed the dummy one more time, and set down her sword. She wiped sweat off of her forehead. Swordplay was never really her strength, but she wanted to strain herself to work out this stupid pain in her heart.

She sat down at the edge of the sword fighting arena, and opened a bottle of water. She should have stuck with her knife, her arm was sore from carrying the extra unfamiliar. She gulped down the water, and remembered Percy again. She crushed the water bottle, and chucked it as far as she can. She immediately reprimanded herself, this was just getting childish.

For the summer, Percy decided to go stay in the city, and spend some time home. Annabeth understood completely, with his sixteenth birthday coming up soon, she knew he was carrying a large burden. The thing was, he also started hanging out with Rachel. A lot. Was she jealous that Rachel got to spend so much time with Percy, or was she jealous of how Percy went to Rachel for company? The world may never know. She wished she was Rachel right now, just enjoying a nice day out with Percy. As of now, she just wished she was an ignorant mortal, not knowing of anything that was about to happen. Chiron said Percy needed some time in the mortal world, and Annabeth believed him. She really tried too.

That was fine! It's not like Percy was needed at the moment; things were being handled just fine here. Preparing for war, putting up defenses at camp. Percy was also supposed to be coming today, he had to practice a run-through on abandoned ships with Beckendorf. She would see him then. She'll try to make things slightly better than they were now.

She practiced a few more maneuvers on the dummy, with her knife this time. She gripped the leather hilt. She always felt safer, and stronger when she fought with this knife. Like she had things under control. Like they were family.

_Where had that come from?_ She paused, breathing hard from the exercise. Luke. Agony tore her heart, and she felt like breaking down right there. Luke was used. She knew that, but what good was it now? She had a chance to help him, she could've stopped him from taking in Kronos. Now, he was not himself anymore. She remembered his cold golden eyes boring into her. She wanted to believe that he was still in there somewhere. She had too.

Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, and took a deep breath. She was torn between Percy and Luke. Why was she so indecisive? She hated herself for wanting Percy to choose her over Rachel when she couldn't even forget Luke, who was pretty much the Lord of the Titans at the moment.

These weren't good thoughts. She sheathed her knife, and made her way up to the Big House. When she got there, she stared at the sky-blue house with the white trim for a few moments. This may be one of the last times she can ever see this house. She went inside, and reclined at the ping-pong table, and snacked on some Cheez-Whiz. She took a nice whiff of the comfortable smell that she remembered loving ever since she was seven, and tried to and Beckendorf were supposed to meet her here soon, to discuss the plans about bombing the _Princess Andromeda._ They were going to watch how Percy and Beckendorf do on the run-through, then maybe make some revisions to their plan. Percy should also be coming to the meeting.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought. She hadn't seen Percy for what, the school year and this whole summer? And the last time they met, they hadn't left on exactly great terms. Annabeth didn't know, things were just getting so complicated between them. She just wanted things to be comfortable with Percy as friends again, but she wanted to be with him so much. It hurt just to think about him, she skirted around it pretty much the whole year. She even avoided the lake and any activities concerning it, because they all reminded her of Percy too much. She was definitely going crazy.

Chiron walked in with Beckendorf, and smiled at her. "Sorry for the wait, Annabeth. Shall we get started?"

Beckendorf nodded at Annabeth, and sat down.

"When do you think you will be ready with all the bombs?" Chiron inquired.

"Well,..."

Annabeth zoned out as they discussed the placement of the Greek Fire they were to put in the _Princess Andromeda_. She was just impatient for Percy to come.

Like the speak of the devil, Annabeth almost recognized the smell of the ocean before she saw him come through the doors.

Annabeth's heart did a triple-flip. He got taller, and seemed to have matured. That was surprising. Percy met her eyes, and gave her a weak smile. Annabeth just about melted.

Percy gingerly took the chair next to her.

"Ah, Percy. Thank you for coming." Chiron regarded.

"Percy, perfect timing. I'm sure you didn't really care about the info and such, since it was about random mechanics. So wanna go do a run-through?"

"So much for sitting down," Percy grinned, and they were all out the door. Annabeth felt a little better after that.

xxx

The run-throughs were perfect; no flaws. Percy and Beckendorf went in and out of the practice ships with no sweat. Annabeth should be enthralled that they did this so quickly, but she was only bothered that this meant this will be probably the last time she sees him until the war. And that's not really the place for a nice date, right? Not that they were dating.

"That was perfect! But I suggest you should try once more, just in case. Oh, and Annabeth, dear, can you watch? I have to attend to some business." Chiron smiled and trotted away. Annabeth started the timer, and they were off and back within ten minutes. They came back with all smiles.

"Yeah, that was good. The monsters won't know what's coming." Beckendorf wickedly grinned and slapped Percy on his back.

Annabeth nodded, not really trusting herself to talk. She should try to talk to Percy, at least. Maybe they can go somewhere-

"Okay, does that mean we're done? I'm going to meet Rachel soon." Percy said. Something twisted in Annabeth's stomach. She tried to ignore the pitied looks Beckendorf was giving her. Never mind going somewhere, Percy already made plans with Rachel. Yay for them then.

"Yeah." Annabeth said shortly.

"You… you okay with that?" Percy asked again.

Something snapped, and she spat, "YES, I am, Percy! You are done here, you can leave. Please." She grit her teeth together, not looking at him.

Percy, stared at her a little longer, and slowly turned away and left. Percy looked like a begging puppy, and Annabeth almost lost it. Beckendorf gave Annabeth a sad look, and pat her shoulder.

"Tough." Beckendorf said.

"Whatever." Annabeth replied. Not really. She didn't think Rachel was all that bad, really. Annabeth was just so envious of her. She gripped the timer tighter, and decided to go train at the sword arena again.

Maybe she'll use two swords this time.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Just always want to say thank you for reviews, and even following/favoriting! Thank you so much for everything, really! Modern percabeth au:) Did I ever mention I love Annabeth's POV? (Just note i have almost no clue to business or anything like that so bear with me here) Also, it might be the _slightest_ bit inappropriate, because.. well, you'll see.

/

All Annabeth wanted to do was relax. Well, she could just try and pretend that this incredibly vital business trip was a vacation. Annabeth was cramped up after the 8 hour plane ride, and the 3 business meetings Annabeth had to present her company's ideas and plans at. Now she was exiting the freeway that kept her in traffic for 4 hours to get to the stupid hotel. The words she had repeated at the meetings were burned into her memory, it haunted her at this point. She feared talking to anyone at the moment because she just might drill them with facts on how _fascinating_ the acrylic windows would look in _that_ specific angle showcasing _that _beautiful tropical fish that also happened to be endangered and only found in 2 countries in the world. And the cost of all that would only be _that_ many millions of dollars! But that's nothing to you, right? When she became an architect, she didn't know how much _talking _she had to do. She really just desired to draw quietly by herself.

Annabeth was designing an aquarium as a joint to a hotel this huge company owned. This was really Annabeth's opportunity of a lifetime, this was her biggest project ever. She took it upon herself to do 90% of the work, and only let the assistants help her with the most miniscule things. She regretted it now, she felt like she had so much on her hands. Anyways, there was one big meeting tomorrow she had to prepare herself for. She was going to meet the CEO of the hotel, who also owned all the land her aquarium was going to be built on. If it gets built.

She doesn't even know what this guy looks like or his name, but only how rich he is. Multi-millionaires were nothing to this guy, apparently. With a snap of his finger, he can ruin Burger King. Although Burger King was doing that fine by itself.

But Annabeth did not want to stress herself out by that, she just wants to sleep in her hotel, after she takes a luxurious bubble bath.

She gripped her driving wheel tighter, and finally saw the hotel. Wow, this hotel was definitely fitting to _luxurious_. Maybe having business meetings with many different classy business people did have it's benefits.

When she entered the lobby, she just had to stand in awe for a few moments at the architecture. It seemed to try to have somewhat of a Greek-roman style, and it really was a sight or sore eyes. Columns were erect in the lobby, which was fine because there was a _very_ high ceiling. Beautiful art was plastered on the ceiling, making Annabeth gawk with her head bent all the way back. Annabeth snapped out of it, and walked to the front desk. She always did like that _click-clack_ sound her heels made against marble floor, even if it murdered her feet.

"Uh, Annabeth Chase?" She told the lobbyist.

"Yes, that will be...room 406?" He said, but he didn't seem very sure of himself. She received the keys and dragged her luggage to the elevator to make it to her floor.

Easy elevator music calmed Annabeth, and only made her feel more sore and tired. She was definitely ready for that bubble bath.

She rushed over to her room, and fumbled with the key for a moment. With a _click_, the door swung open to Annabeth's paradise.

_This is really the room I'm staying at?_ Was Annabeth's first thought. She set down her luggage next to the door. She thought her boss was being too generous. He set up this trip for her, since this was her first business trip. But she was sure business trips didn't need rooms this nice.

There was a master bed, with a canopy and wine-colored sheets. On the dresser next to it, there was a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a little note. She would look at that later. A flat screen that was easily 60 inches was on the wall opposite of it. There was also a balcony, displaying a beautiful view of the city's lights at night. It had an additional coffee table too, nice! There was a huge painting too, with Greek gods in Olympus, supposedly staring down at what was probably supposed to be the earth. The kitchen was nice too, this room was a hundred times nicer than her own flat back home.

Annabeth looked in the bathroom, and was ecstatic. There was a jacuzzi, and from what she could see, it had those jets that were supposed to give you a nice massage.

But it seemed the hotel was expecting her, which was strange. The jacuzzi was already filled with a bubble bath, and they even went as far to decorate it with some rose petals. Well, that's all the better for her.

She stripped off her clothes quickly, and set her iPhone to play music next to the tub. She sunk low into the bubbles, enjoying the rosy scent it gave off. Wow, she might just stay extra nights to get more of this. She gave a relieved sigh, and found a tiny remote when her elbow bumped into it. She studied the buttons, and figured out it was for the massaging jets. She set it on medium, and closed her eyes to relax.

She was so tired and stressed from the day, and now she was in heaven. Annabeth considered investing in a jacuzzi at home. Maybe she can design it for herself. She started humming along to her iPhone, and then sang. It let out more stress, and made her feel more free. She figured a room like this was sound-proof, so she sang at the top of her lungs. This was the best hotel _ever. _She'll have to get her boss a thank-you gift for hooking her up with this.

Wait. What was that? She thought she just heard the door open. She stopped singing, and listened closely. Was someone breaking in?

Suddenly the door swung open, and a rather handsome man stared at her. He was wearing an expensive suit, all black with a gray shirt. In surprise, Annabeth covered herself with a towel she grabbed. She rose out of the tub, dripping. She cautiously stepped closer the man.

They had a staring contest, until Annabeth yelled a battle cry and judo-flipped the man over her shoulder. She took martial arts all her life, and had a part-time job as a karate teacher until she became an architect. He groaned under her grip. Yeah, he didn't expect for her to actually fight back, huh? She was going to give this man a piece of her mind, trying to break into her room.

Annabeth wrestled with him, and kept her towel on at the same time, which she thought was pretty impressive.

Finally she was on him, pinning his arm behind his back, and she smirked in victory.

"So do tell, why are you here and how did you break in?" Annabeth snarled with her most intimidating voice. That was hard considering she was dripping wet and her only clothing was a towel.

She pulled his arm a little, and he yelped. "My…" He managed.

"What, sweetie?" She gripped tighter.

"My… room." He groaned. _What?_

"This is my room." she bluntly said. Where did he think he was going with this?

"Well, it's mine too." he answered. Annabeth narrowed her eyes. He didn't seem to be lying, and Annabeth was quite good at discerning lies. She loosened her grip, and the man sighed in relief.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"They gave me the key to this room, and told me my room was 406… I think." he said.

"You _think?_" Annabeth repeated.

"Well, they had to check a few times, and didn't sound very confident when they gave me the key." the man explained.

"Oh… Well, I guess we should take this to the front desk." Annabeth awkwardly stepped off of him, and helped him up. "Uh. Sorry. You're not a murderer, right?" She apologized.

After helping him up, she finally got a good look at his face. He was handsome, certainly. He had sideswept and sorta messy black hair, paired with sea-green eyes. It gave him a boyish and mischievous look, which made him look like he would be the type teachers despised. The man grunted a little and slightly laughed. "It's fine, and no. It's nice to know there are women out there that can defend themselves in such a vulnerable position."

Annabeth nodded, not knowing what to say. The man still looked a little dazed, and she became worried she was too harsh on him. "You okay?" she asked.

The man hesitated in pain, and replied, "Yeah, let's go."

They both made their way down to the front desk in the front lobby very awkwardly. What was Annabeth supposed to say to someone she thought was a burglar and she beat up? Anyways, when they got up to the front desk, she noticed people were incredulously staring at her. Confused, she ignored them, until it hit her. Annabeth looked down, and saw that she was still wrapped in a towel. _Oh, my gods._ Annabeth's face flamed, but she acted like nothing was wrong.

"Hello… How may I help you?" The lobbyist asked, eyeing Annabeth's towel. Then he saw the man next to her, and straightened his back.

"I think there was a mistake, we both ended up in the same room. We both got keys to room 406." The man briefed.

"Your names?" he asked.

"Percy Jackson and…" the man trailed off. So, his name was Percy?

She realized he was waiting for her to say her name, and she said, "Annabeth Chase."

Percy did a double-take at that, and he looked away. Was that a smile? The lobbyist looked embarrassed, and said, "I'm so sorry, sir." He quickly went through his computer, and continued, "I'm so sorry, sir. There are no more rooms available tonight, we're full." He started panicking, and the manager came over.

"What's going on here?" the manager asked. His name tag read Matthew. The manager studied Annabeth and the man, and he suddenly looked alarmed.

The lobbyist explained, and they started a conversation in harsh whispers. The lobbyist looked so lost and scared, Annabeth felt bad. The man seemed to, also, and he said, "You know, it's fine. We're… cousins anyways. We can sleep in the same room for one night." Annabeth shot him an angry look, and he shot back a look pleading _please play along, I'll figure something out later._

Matthew asked, "This… madam is your cousin? Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm sorry to have bothered you." He calmly replied. The manager and the lobbyist looked like they just barely missed a car accident, and they visibly calmed down.

"No, no, sir. I'm sorry. Thank you so much, ." The man waved his hand implying that it was fine. Matthew stared at Annabeth, just noticing she was almost naked. The man looked at Annabeth like he just noticed too, and he took off his jacket and covered her.

"C'mon, let's go, Annabelle, " he said. He put his arm around her, and they rushed to the elevators. They felt strong but awfully gentle. She like it being around her. Annabeth pushed that thought away.

Inside the elevator, Annabeth hissed, "What do you think you're doing? What do we do now? And it's _Annabeth."_

"Oh, sorry. I knew that. And for the room thing… I'll sleep on the floor or something, I'll… make it up to you later. Please." Percy begged.

"Why did you have to do that?" Annabeth asked, curious.

"I didn't want anyone to cause a fuss because of me. And didn't you see them? The lobbyist almost lost his job." Percy said.

"You're too nice. And cousins? Really?" Annabeth huffed.

Percy was about to say something, but the elevator _dinged_, and they went back to their room. When they were inside, Percy stared at her intensely. He was good looking. Wow.

Hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt, she retorted, "What do you want?"

He looked down at her torso, and Annabeth looked down too. Ah. His jacket.

She gingerly took it off, and handed it over to him. "Thanks."

Percy sighed, and answered, "Well, at least someone like you knows how to be thankful."

"What do you mean by that?" Annabeth snapped.

Percy looked at her, and replied, "You tried to beat me to death when you first saw me."

"I was surprised! And I was taking a bath!" Annabeth defended.

"I kinda think you should finish that bath." Percy gestured to her. She was all wet, and some spare bubbles were still on her. Annabeth turned away from him, and went to the bathroom. She quickly washed herself after that, only to realize she didn't have any clothes.

This night was just getting worse and worse.

She neared in to the door, and called out, "Uh… Percy? ?"

She heard an answer, "What?"

Annabeth cleared her voice, and said, "Um, would you mind, if you got my suitcase for me?"

"Yes." he said shortly. Well, that was rude.

"Please?" she tried again.

"No."

Frustrated, Annabeth wrapped her towel around her body. Who did he think he was, ruining her perfect bath, invading her room, and forcing her to share it with him? She quickly opened the door, only to bump into Percy holding her luggage. She rushed too much, and so the impact made her slip backwards. _NO!_ she thought, until she felt the same strong arms slip around her back, steadying her.

Percy and Annabeth were staring at each other, and they were nose-to-nose. Annabeth could smell his aftershave, and it actually smelled _really good_, unlike the ones that smelled like middle school boys in the locker room. They could kiss right now, not that Annabeth cared. Percy's face was furiously blushing, and Annabeth didn't know why until she felt a cold breeze against her body.

Her heart dropped into her stomach. _Please. No. No, no no no no…_

In her peripheral vision, Annabeth saw something white on the floor. A towel. The one that was covering her.

Annabeth shrieked, and whipped her arms out. One smacked Percy in the face on accident, and she quickly retrieved her towel and her luggage. She kicked Percy out of the bathroom, and shut the door. She panted against the door. Annabeth couldn't believe her luck. She honestly believed now that some deity out there was after her. Annabeth got dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and took her luggage out of the bathroom. Percy was sitting in a chair, staring at nothing.

Annabeth's face flushed, and she muttered, "Sorry."

"Thanks for-"

"WHAT?" Annabeth yelled. How could he say that so shamelessly?

"Let me finish!" Percy looked flustered now. "I was going to say thanks for not killing me, but someone was having dirty thoughts." He glared at Annabeth.

"Oh. sorry." Annabeth couldn't be any more embarrassed. She looked at Percy, and realized he was trying not to laugh. She made a face, and he burst out laughing.

Taken aback, she said, "I didn't know I was that ugly."

"Well, you are. And a terrible singer," Percy managed in between laughs. Something fluttered in Annabeth's stomach when she saw his face break out in a wide smile like that. Before, he seemed so calm and elegant, this side to him was refreshing.

"You heard that?" Annabeth asked, even if she knew the answer.

"Definitely, I learned that there isn't a limit to how bad someone can sing." Warmth crept into her cheeks, so the bathroom wasn't exactly sound-proof. "At least you have a nice body." he nonchalantly said.

Annabeth smacked him on his shoulder on impulse, red face and all. "Perv! A view like that cost money!" she shrieked.

He groaned, and said, "Bad shoulder!"

Annabeth sneered and replied, "You deserved it." Annabeth felt a little hungry, and remembered the cookies on the nightstand. She went over, and munched on a chocolate chip cookie. Annabeth picked up the note next to it, and it read, "_Thank you for staying with us, Mr. Jackson. We hope you have a wonderful time here! Enjoy these cookies!"_ So it wasn't her room at all. Darn it.

"What is that?" Percy looked over.

"Nothing." Annabeth said quickly.

"Why? Let me see," he swiftly walked behind Annabeth and reached over her shoulder. Annabeth was flush against his warm chest, not that it mattered.

He snickered, and said, "So this is my room, actually."

"Shut up."

Percy smiled, and got his suitcase to change. He took off his jacket, and Annabeth yelped, "Not here!"

"Shy, much? I already saw you." Percy smirked.

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. Percy laughed, showing off that stupid wide grin of his.

"You're an interesting girl." he muttered under his breath, and he went to the bathroom. That stupid pervert, saying stupid things.

Percy came back with sweats and a t-shirt, eerily similar to Annabeth's pj's. It's like they were wearing couple outfits. _Shut up, _she told suddenly remembered she had a meeting tomorrow.

"Shoot! I have a meeting! Okay, good night!" Annabeth said. She jumped under the covers.

"Woah there, what do you think you're doing? This is my room." Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Um, you owe me, so no. Good night." Annabeth lay down and shut her eyes.

"You sure you want to spend that favor so rashly? I'm sure you would want something else." Percy said.

"Whatever, I'm sleeping."

"I refuse to oblige to your request. You can spend that favor on something worthwhile."

"What do you mean?" Then Annabeth felt something shift on the bed, and saw Percy under the covers also. "What are you doing?" she yelled.

"Sleeping." he said with one eye closed.

"With me next to you?"

"Why not." he sarcastically said. Annabeth leaped out of the bed.

"Okay, I'll sleep on the floor. But you owe me!" Annabeth agreed.

Percy snorted. "Whatever you want, princess. Night."

Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him, and lay on one of the chairs. How did things end up this way? Annabeth was forced to share a room with a man that had seen her naked, and she never met him before. She relaxed, and thought of the way he caught her with his arms steadying her as she fell asleep.

She woke up with her hair plastered on her face and pillow. She felt weight on her, and felt the nice, thick duvet. Annabeth sat up, stretching in the bed. Wait, bed? How did she get here? Annabeth looked around, and saw that Percy was gone. _So much for that favor,_ Annabeth thought. She checked the time, which read 8:40. The meeting she had with the multi-billionaire started at 9. The meeting was going to be at one of the conference rooms at the hotel, so she was okay.

Annabeth got ready, and the room suddenly felt a little big. She idly put on makeup, and wondered what Percy was doing, or where he had gone. It all happened so quickly, he barged in her life, and disappeared just as quickly. Annabeth took a deep breath. _You can't be distracted like this. This meeting can decide how your life will be from now on._ She thought.

Percy Jackson. It might as well have been a dream. Did Annabeth miss him? Who knows, all she knew was that she had to get down to the meeting _now._

Annabeth rushed to the conference room, which was on the twentieth floor.

Annabeth checked her laptop case, to make sure everything was ready. She walked down the hall, and stopped at the room marked as room 2043. There were six guards. She personally thought that was way too many to be crowding around a door, and it just intimidated her.

In a small voice, she said, "I'm Annabeth Chase, who has a meeting with…uh, him regarding the aquarium?"

They curtly nodded and knocked lightly at the door. " ? May we let her in?"

? That must be a common name around here.

"Yes, you may." A familiar deep voice said.

_Huh?_

_Wait…_

The door opened, revealing the man in the same suit as yesterday wearing the most smug expression she ever saw. His sea-green eyes had an evil glint in them.

_No…_

"Shall we commence the meeting, Annabeth?" Percy Jackson smiled at her.

The idiotic, mysterious pervert from what Annabeth thought was a dream was the multi-_billionaire_ who pretty much had Annabeth's future in his hands like putty. Well, great.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Enjoy one more chapter of the business/modern au! Thanks once again for kind reviews and fav/following!

/

Annabeth remembered that smug look, and it only annoyed her last night. Now it terrified her.

_What is wrong with Annabeth's luck?_

Percy Jackson gestured at the chair in front of him, and said, "You can sit."

"I know," Annabeth grumbled, pulling the chair out.

"Remember me?" Percy teased. Nostalgia waved over her, the man she thought was gone forever only came back to her, even if it was just one night. He looked a little different, with a more powerful air surrounding him, and it made kinda made him more hot. Did she just think that?

Annabeth shot him a glare, but tried to keep her cool. "How can I forget?"

How was Annabeth supposed to go on? Was she supposed to be all professional now? Or can she treat him like she did yesterday? But yesterday, she didn't know who he really _was…_

"Are you going to do something, or was this an excuse to have some private time with me?" Percy smirked.

"Shut up!" Annabeth blurted. _Shoot!_ She covered her mouth. "Sorry…"

"Sorry? Wow, being rich has it's benefits. So, why are you here today?" he said with a bland taste in his voice.

"Um, well. I designed an aquarium for your hotel...sir. I wanted to feature a rainbow reef for snorkeling, and a sea-life petting zoo for the kids. The viewing panel will be of tremendous size, 28 meters wide and about 5 meters tall, with about 250 different species living in it…" Annabeth trailed off when she realized he was looking off in the distance, obviously bored out of his mind. "Um, Per- ?"

"What?" he gave her a cold stare. _Did she do something wrong?_

"Is this… Is this not good enough? Should I try something else?" Annabeth offered. She couldn't lose this project. This was _huge._ _Why_ did the CEO have to be _him_ of all people? Why?

"Why are you suddenly like that?" he asked.

"Like what, ?"

"That! You're… Is it because of who I am? Because I'm just the CEO of the hotel? Because I'm the owner of the land you want to build your aquarium?" He retorted, leaving Annabeth speechless. Well, she couldn't _agree_ with him…

"Uh, you okay?" Annabeth tried to approach carefully.

"What makes you think I'm not?" Percy snapped. Okay, no need to be _rude._

"You're acting like a child," Annabeth sighed.

"What's wrong with that? Children are precious!" Percy yelled.

"Not when they're being stubborn brats! And what's with the yelling? Check your privilege!" Annabeth yelled back.

"Whatever! I would be a cute brat at least, your hideous face _made_ you bratty! And look, you're yelling too," Percy sneered.

"Looks aren't everything! And I look just fine!"

"If it's not everything, why do you want to be assured that you look 'fine?'"

"Okay, then. I'm not decent looking!"

"You actually admitted it!" Percy snickered.

"_Oh, my_ _gods just shut up!_" Annabeth shrieked. What was this childish argument she was having with a billionaire? Their yells echoed in the room, and Annabeth remembered there were guards outside. Double shoot.

They were red faced from yelling insults at each other, but it seemed… fun. It was nice just letting your immature side get to you sometimes. Annabeth saw Percy laugh a little, and she let herself smile. Percy didn't seem mad anymore, that was relieving. They sat in silence a little bit, both not sure how to go on.

Annabeth bit her lower lip, and continued, "About the aquarium…"

"Oh, you can go ahead. Do what you want." he waved his hand nonchalantly.

"What?" Just like that? "Why?"

"What do you mean why? You don't want it?"

"No, but I just… Why did you say that so easily? I feel like I owe you."

"Remember that favor I owe you? Here you go."

"That's different!" Annabeth felt uneasy letting him let her proceed so easily. It just made her feel as if she didn't earn it.

"How?"

Annabeth didn't respond. Well, if he _insisted…_

"But, last night? I had to carry your fat body onto the bed. How much do you weigh? You owe me now for that," Percy said.

He would let her take his millions of dollars worth of land, but now she owed him for being carried to bed?

"Fat? You didn't think that before when you saw," Annabeth commented.

Percy blushed. "I'm _joking." _he muttered and averted his eyes. Annabeth won that one.

"But that doesn't mean you still don't owe me!" Percy whined.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"Buy me breakfast!" Percy prompted.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Because of this meeting, I couldn't have breakfast! It wasn't even that important or urgent, you just needed permission for your aquarium. You treat me." Percy explained. Not that important? How was a CEO like such a little kid?

"Uh… ok. Is that okay with you?" Annabeth raised her eyebrow.

"Let's go, then. I'm hungry!" Percy got up, flashing that trademark grin of his. What did she just get herself into?

Now Annabeth was sitting in the back of Percy's limo. There was a separate section for the driver and guards up in the front, so Annabeth and Percy was alone. Fortunately, because it was a little scary to be scrutinized by men ready to kill you.

"Well, it's a little late for breakfast, so lunch?" Annabeth asked.

"Sure."

"I know a place near here… T.G.I Friday's?" Annabeth said. She thought it might be a little too _common_ for his tastes though. "There's like… uh, _commoners_ there so is that okay?"

"You're acting as if I'm royalty." Percy huffed. "It's fine. Hey, Grover? Can you go to T.G.I Friday's?" he called. There was a little nod Annabeth saw through the little slider door, indicating that they got it.

_Yeah, you're richer than most royalty. _Annabeth thought. "But you know, I've never been there, although I know a little about it." Percy added.

Annabeth gaped at him, "You've never been to T.G.I Friday's?"

Percy suddenly seemed self-conscious, "It's not a big deal! Anyways, I know a bit about it. I've met Nick a few times. Seems nice."

"Nick?" Annabeth questioned.

"The CEO." Percy explained. The CEO?

They rode in silence. Annabeth could just feel the distance between them. They lived on different planets, but he was right here, sitting next to her on this first-class limo. She felt him partially against her, and Annabeth just wanted to fall asleep in his warmth. Annabeth hated to say it, since it made her feel like a gold digger, but she fancied him. Kind of. She studied his profile, and his green eyes were focused on something outside. Percy had a strong jaw, wow that jaw was kind of amazing. Annabeth practically had to rip her eyes away when she felt the limo halt.

"Guess we're here! I'm gonna eat a lot, kay?" Percy told her. She briskly nodded, and they both entered the restaurant.

It was a little awkward, because Percy's guards were surrounding him at their table. Percy looked just as uncomfortable, but Annabeth wanted to make the best of their lunch.

Annabeth ordered some buffalo wings, and Percy ordered a large cheeseburger, chili cheese fries, cheese sticks, and potato skins. Annabeth had no idea where he would put all that food, but she was mainly worried about her wallet.

The food came, and they both inhaled the food. Annabeth found it hard to make a conversation, since Percy's guards were intensely watching their every move. She took this time to stare at his face as long as she wanted to. He ate like a little kid too, stuffing his face and letting food stain his face. He ate _a lot_, too.

Finally, in between chewing and grabbing food, Percy said, "Hey, you guys can be excused."

One guard that Annabeth remembered as Grover replied, "I'm sorry sir, but we want to stay here so we can guard you."

"It's really okay. I think I can protect myself against a blonde." Percy smirked.

"Um, what do you mean by that?" Annabeth made a face.

"Please sir, let us stay." Grover repeated. Percy didn't seem to want to say yes, but he nodded.

They continued eating, and Percy suddenly said, "Hey, guys. I… want some dessert, but this restaurant doesn't seem to have it. Can you get it for me?"

"Hey, I can get it, it's okay-" Annabeth started, but she stopped herself when she saw him wink. His winking face suit him very much.

"Of course, sir. What do you want?" Grover said.

"Can I get… some M&M's? Only the blue ones." Percy requested.

Grover and the guards nodded and promptly left.

Percy sighed. "Only the blue ones? You're a little kid," Annabeth commented.

"It was just to get them to leave us. I love them, but they're just sometimes too protective. I'm sorry, that kinda ruined our date." Percy said.

"Ok, but… wait. This is a date?" Annabeth felt her face flushing. A date?

"Then what is it?" Percy chuckled.

Annabeth didn't have an answer for that.

In the corner of her eye, she saw Grover and the other guards coming. "They're already here!" she told him.

Percy look alarmed. He grabbed her arm, and hissed, "Let's go."

"What? We have to pay-" Percy slapped a two hundreds on the table and got up, pulling Annabeth. She started to argue that she should pay, but Percy started to drag her out. Annabeth managed to throw another hundred onto the table before they were out.

Percy started running out of the restaurant, now gripping Annabeth's hand. She looked behind her, only to see the Grover and the guards behind them.

"They're catching up!" Annabeth warned.

"Don't you think I know that?" Percy grumbled. He picked up their pace, and Annabeth's sides started cramping.

They bumped into random pedestrians, and Annabeth tried to apologize to them.

"You're slowing us down!" Percy said.

"We bumped into them!" Annabeth kept running faster.

Her feet eventually felt like goo. Percy made a few sharp turns here and there, and slipped into an alleyway.

He pulled her down, and put his hand over her mouth. What was he doing? She knew to be quiet already, he didn't have to do that. They both crouched low, and watched the confused guards running past them.

Percy let go, and they both sat down, panting.

After they recovered, they looked at each other, and broke out laughing.

Annabeth then remembered something, and said, "Wait! You paid for most of our lunch!"

"It's fine. You just owe me another meal." Percy shrugged his shoulders.

"I owe you? Again?" Annabeth said in disbelief.

"Technically, you just never paid back your other favor."

"Are you just doing this so you can see me again?" Red crept up on Percy's face, and Annabeth knew the answer. She giggled.

"No! Don't get ahead of yourself, who do you think I am?" Percy retorted.

"Whatever. Just ask me out next time." Now Annabeth felt like she was the boss.

Percy avoided her eyes, and made a face at the floor. Annabeth dusted herself, and got up. She offered her hand to Percy. He looked curiously at her, and she teased, "Well, you can't play hide and seek forever. Do I have to hold your hand on the way back so you don't get lost?"

She was about to put her hand down because it was just a _joke_, but Percy took it. After Percy saw Annabeth's reaction, he squeezed her hand tighter. "Lead the way then."

Not wanting to back out, Annabeth just avoided looking at him again and dragged him back out.

While they were roaming the city, sometime during that their hands intertwined. They talked about some random buildings, or really anything on the streets. Annabeth was having so much fun, she felt her heart drop when she finally found the guards.

"Oh, found them." Annabeth said.

"You don't sound excited. Gonna miss me?" Percy flirted.

"Shut up. I barely know you." Annabeth countered.

"Looks like you're holding hands with a stranger then."

Annabeth let go, and crossed her arms. "Whatever. I still owe you another meal though."

"I'll call you about that."

"But you don't know my number."

"I have my resources." Percy gave her a final smile and wave, and went to join his guards. Annabeth slowly watched as they disappeared into the crowd. She started walking back to the hotel, holding her phone tight in case she would get a message or a particular phone call. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She had a date with a billionaire. Annabeth was able to go home now, but she felt like staying in this city a little longer.

What was Annabeth doing with someone she just met? She didn't know, but she loved it.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: ok, ONE more business au…

/

Annabeth jumped when she felt her phone vibrate.

She read the caller id, and it was some stupid advertisement. Annabeth sighed in frustration, and wiped her hand on her jeans. She was sitting on the bed in her hotel room. She was waiting impatiently for Percy's call for _three_ days now. He checked out the morning they had their meeting three days ago. Annabeth should be back at California now, but Annabeth wanted to see him again. What should she do when she has to leave? Well, it probably wasn't a problem for Percy to visit her. He easily owned a private jet. But the question was, would he visit her? Did he even like her as much as she did? These past few days while she was waiting for him, she realized how much she wanted him to call her, and how much she missed him already.

It was plausible he always flirted with women like this, and Annabeth was just some girl he had wrapped around his billion-dollar finger along with a number of other super-rich supermodels. The thought made her stomach twist in despair, because she really was wrapped around his finger. She only knew him for a few days, but that made her want to stay with him longer, and get to know him longer. Her phone vibrated again, and Annabeth quickly checked it. Advertisement. This stupid company was bugging her all morning, and every time she thought it was Percy. Why couldn't she stop imagining his stupid grin? She wanted to have more lunches with him, and run away from his bodyguards with him. She wanted to walk around the city with him, teaching him what 'commoners' did every day. Gosh, it was like he was under mansion-arrest until he was 30. How old was he? He looked young, and really, really hot. Annabeth hoped he wasn't younger than her. That kinda grossed her out. Annabeth was falling Percy really hard, and really fast. This was not good. There was one part of her that was terrified of being with Percy. He was so rich, and had so much power it was mind-boggling. Annabeth was just some amateur architect, what if his mom hated him? That always happened in the soap operas, with one snap she could lose her job because of his evil mother. What was Annabeth doing, thinking about meeting Percy's parents already?

Her phone rang again, and Annabeth snapped with rage. Before she was about to answer and start yelling at the ad that _no,_ she did _not_ want their stupid backscratchers or leg warmers, Annabeth saw an unknown number. Could this be?

With her heart racing, she answered with a timid voice, "Hello?"

"Annabeth?" His familiar voice was honey to her ears.

"That's really creepy, how did you find out?" Annabeth asked.

She heard Percy's airy laugh through the receiver, and then he said, "Being rich has it's benefits."

"So… I owe you. Another meal." Annabeth started.

"Why do you think I called? Dimwit." Annabeth could hear his sarcasm seeping into the phone.

Irritated, she replied, "Just making sure! Oh, my gods. Calm yourself."

"I don't think it's me that needs to calm themselves."

"Please, just shut up and let me talk."

Percy laughed again, and Annabeth felt the butterflies in her stomach again. She cleared her throat, and continued, "Okay, so when can I pay back my debt?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight? Really?" Annabeth almost squealed.

"Wow, someone's excited for a date."

"Who? Stop imagining things." Annabeth denied, but all she could hear right now was date date _date date date DATE!_

"I'll come to your hotel then at 6."

"Woah, how do you know I was here?"

"Don't ask."

"Whatever, ok. See you then?"

"See you then." and with a click, that finalized their conversation. Annabeth laid back onto her bed, and tried to calm herself. What should they do? Where should they go? Annabeth was infinitely nervous. What if what she planned was too 'poor' for him?

Wait. You know what? Annabeth was being foolish, being so panicky for a _guy._ But this guy was super rich, super handsome, and super Annabeth's crush guy. No! She would _not_ let herself get like this.

Annabeth decided that if their date was too 'poor' for him, he could deal with it.

xxx

Wow, take back what Annabeth said that morning. She was jittery, and was clouded with worry on how their date would turn out. It was now 6:00. He could be here anytime now. Where was he?

For their date, she reserved a table for two at the Cheesecake factory for 6:30. It wasn't super fancy, but it was good enough for a nice dinner. Annabeth wore a blouse with a pencil skirt, which made her look like she was eating dinner for business. Annabeth wasn't thinking of having to woo billionaires when she was packing for her trip. She managed to get her blond curly hair in a messy updo. She checked the time again, and it read 6:04. _Where was he?_

As if on cue, there was a polite knock on her hotel door.

She swung the door open, seeing Percy giving her a lazy smile. He was wearing a nice shirt and tie, all super expensive brand names Annabeth only saw celebrities in magazines wear.

"You're four minutes late," was the first thing Annabeth blurted.

He seemed taken aback by that, and replied, "Well, nice to see you too. You look beautiful." his eyes softened. Annabeth felt like dying of ecstasy. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, but since I'm here on a business trip, I have no car so we're gonna have to take a taxi." Annabeth said, hoping Percy wasn't allergic to public transportation.

"A business trip? So you don't live here?" Percy asked.

"Well, yeah. I'll have to come here a few more times to oversee the building of the aquarium, of course. But yeah, we should get going, reservation's at 6:30." At least he didn't seem to mind the taxi.

Percy offered his arm, and Annabeth took it. This felt okay so far.

The taxi ride was somehow fantastic, because Percy was just being adorable and naive because he didn't really know what to do since it was his first time. It was like riding with a six-year old, really. They reached Cheesecake Factory, and Annabeth paid the driver.

"Thank you! See ya, Mike!" Percy smiled. Mike, their driver, nodded, and he was off. Percy had struck up a conversation with Mike, and became acquainted with him fairly quickly. It was weird how easily Percy would make friends with a taxi driver, but to Annabeth it just made him look so much more admirable and kind.

They were sitting at the table, and everything was perfect. If Annabeth and Percy just normally arguing and fighting is perfect, at least. Annabeth preferred this than having stupid small talk, anyways. She never saw the point in that, it was just wasting precious time for both sides. Fighting like this felt more comfortable, and like them.

"Lighting the candle at a dinner is romantic and sophisticated!" Percy argued. Percy demanded that they light the candles at the table, but Annabeth obviously knew that was stupid and shut it down.

"Lighting it is pointless and just raises the chance of causing a fire! And it might burn you if you're not careful!" Annabeth cried, exasperated. What does this moron think he wants to do?

"You're acting as if I'm as a child!"

"You're acting as if you're not!"

"What? Dude-"

Percy stopped mid-sentence, and was staring over Annabeth's head. Curiously, Annabeth looked up only to find a glorious woman hovering over her, carrying a wine glass.

"Percy, honey! It's strange to meet you here, this isn't your style," the woman purred. She was wearing a tight dress matching her wine, and had chocolate curls tumbling down one side of her shoulders. She was immediately jealous, because Annabeth always wished to be a brunette. People always looked down on her because of her blonde hair.

"Yeah, strange to see you here too. What's up?" Percy casually replied. Who was this? Was she another one of Percy's concubines or something? Well, she looked _very_ rich. Her jewelry was studded with pearls and other rocks Annabeth couldn't name.

"Oh, a man bought me dinner here. He was slightly charming, but his taste is bland." She gestured around her, looking disgusted. Was this restaurant that out of her league? Than how about Percy? Annabeth felt a pit form in her stomach. The lady suddenly seemed to notice Annabeth below her, and added, "Oh, and who is this?"

"Ah, my date for tonight." Percy grinned. At least it seems they weren't interested in each other, but Annabeth still felt unsettled.

She made a face, "Oh, Percy. That's divine! She looks… _different_ from your old flings. Is it her personality?" she had a polite tone, but Annabeth felt malice.

Percy looked uncomfortable, and replied, "Monica, please. We're a little busy here, can you leave us now?"

Monica gave her one last look, and glided out of the room with elegance.

"I'm sorry." Percy apologized.

"What do you mean? That wasn't your fault, it's fine." Annabeth faked a smile, but she felt hollow. Annabeth knew Percy was out of her league, but she didn't know exactly how much. She wasn't good enough for him.

The rest of the dinner, they ate silently. Annabeth asked for a check, although she wasn't done with her dessert. She wasn't very hungry.

When they were finally outside, the mood was awkward. After Monica had come, Annabeth just felt embarrassed and wanted to go back home. Right now they were wandering around the city again, but without the fun they had the last time they were like this.

"Wanna go to the park?" Percy offered. Annabeth nodded, and he took her hand.

After walking around the park for a while, Annabeth suggested they should sit down on the bench a little bit. She stared at the night sky, stars barely visible because of the pollution.

"What's wrong?" Percy cautiously asked.

"Nothing," Annabeth responded.

"Hey, you've been weird ever since… Is it because of Monica? We're not like that," Percy remembered.

"I know."

"Annabeth, really? Did she say something? I know she was rude, I'm sorry."

"It wasn't rude."

"What do you mean, of course it was-"

"It's not rude if it's true." Annabeth looked up at Percy with hurt eyes.

Realization dawned on Percy's face. "I don't care about that."

"I can't even take you to a decent restaurant. I… I'm not good enough." Annabeth tried to keep her voice level.

"Who ever said that? I told you already, I don't care about money."

"I'm too _common_, I can't handle the life of the wealthy, living in a world where people like you are everywhere, in a constant battle for money and power. I'm… I'm only going to bring you down." Annabeth confessed.

"That's it?"

"What do you mean, 'That's it?'."

"If I thought about stupid stuff like your social status and wealth, I wouldn't have even bat an eye at you."

"Thanks."

"No! But, the points is." He took a breath and lowered his eyes. "You don't treat me like I'm some idol or something, you just take me for who I am. You don't care about my power, you yell at me if I'm doing something dumb and don't hesitate to get mad at me. You don't treat me like I'm just the CEO of some dumb hotel, you treat me… like a person."

Annabeth didn't answer to that. She was furiously blushing now, but wished Percy couldn't see. She couldn't let him know how happy she felt because she _meant_ something to Percy, despite the short time they knew each other. Percy looked at her, and weakly laughed, "Too romantic for you? I know I'm good."

Annabeth snorted and averted her eyes. "You wish you were, idiot."

"Then is this romantic?"

Annabeth looked back at Percy, and he leaned in. Annabeth's heart couldn't take it, so she leaned further away. He persisted, and wrapped an arm around her back. Annabeth wanted to kiss him, so badly, but she was just so nervous.

"Someone might see," She tried to make an excuse.

"Who?" He glanced around at the empty and dark park. His focus was on Annabeth. He tried to lean in again, but Annabeth looked down.

"I don't kiss on the first date," Annabeth whispered.

"Oh, I wouldn't count this as a first date." Percy breathed. He closed the space between them, and they kissed in the darkness.

xxx

Annabeth leaned her head on Percy's shoulder, staring at nothing. Percy took her hand, and asked, "Earlier, you said you don't live here. Where do you live?"

"In San Francisco." Annabeth answered.

"When are you coming back here?"

"Probably in like six months or so."

"That's not soon enough."

"What can I do? I don't have the money to go back and forth as I please."

"But I do."

"Percy…"

"I'll visit you. Every weekend."

"Every weekend!? That's crazy!" Annabeth gaped at him, sitting up.

"It's fine, it's not a big deal."

"But you're so busy."

"Annabeth, I'm coming every weekend. Period." Then he pulled Annabeth into his chest.

"Whatever, it's your money." Annabeth agreed. She was only acting mad, but she was in a state of bliss. Annabeth nuzzled herself into Percy, hugging him back tightly and smiled.

There were indeed benefits to having a billionaire as a boyfriend.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thank you for reviewing, fav or following! You guys don't know how happy it makes me:) Enjoy! There are some details that might not follow the book, beware! Takes place when they're 14-15? Not sure.

/

Percy tried not to focus on Annabeth too much, because that might just make him lose his head. Percy sidestepped, and smashed his sword hilt on his opponent's helmet. His foe crumpled, and Percy lifted his sword in victory.

The crowd roared, but Percy was only stealing glances at Annabeth, hoping she would notice his win. He saw her keeping a straight face, and couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Ugh, he was going to have to try harder. They were having a sword-fighting tournament at Camp Half-Blood, and Percy was determined to win so he can show Annabeth his skills.

Annabeth had a little outburst earlier this week going on about how Percy's strength all came from Poseidon, and how Annabeth had to train hard for many years to get where she was now. Percy knew Annabeth was a good fighter, but it angered him how Annabeth said all his fighting skills came from his father. He was a little worried that he was depending too much on his water powers, and Annabeth pointing that out for him was not pleasant. Silena Beauregard noticed how they were fighting, and forced Percy to spill. She got all girly about it, and told Percy he had to show her how strong he was by entering this tournament. Silena was now determined to prove to Annabeth about Percy's 'manliness.'

So here he was, showing off his sword skills for a stupid girl. Well, hardly stupid.

He scanned the crowd, and saw Silena waving to him. He raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking if he did well. She nodded enthusiastically and gave him two thumbs-up. Percy blushed a little, because he felt awkward trying to consciously show off to a girl. Especially Annabeth.

He sneaked another glance at Annabeth, while resting and getting ready for the next match, which was also the final match. He was up against a burly Ares kid, but he had to win. And Annabeth now looked _angry_. Well, he wanted to prove her wrong, but he didn't want to anger her _more._ He was hoping more that he would just impress her. Percy shook it off, and headed off to start the next match. He'll be satisfied only when he wins.

xxx

When did Percy get so close to Silena Beauregard? Annabeth knew Percy learned how to fly pegasi with her, and now he was sword fighting for her too? Did Percy have a crush on Silena? And why would Annabeth care about that? That was their business, right? She knew it, but something burned inside Annabeth when she saw Percy staring at Silena and seeing her smile and cheer him on back.

She wanted to know if there was anything going on between Percy and Silena, but she couldn'tjust _ask._ Annabeth and Percy were fighting at the moment, kind of. She told him how he could fight well only because of his dad, and things went sour from there. Even if they weren't, Annabeth would rather be eaten alive by harpies than ask him something like that. She watched as Percy downed a water bottle, and splashed the excess water onto himself. Percy sighed as the water cooled him, and he shook his hair. Annabeth tried not to stare at him too long. Annabeth felt something weird. Like something was fluttering.

She ignored it, and saw the fighters get ready for the next match. Annabeth would have entered herself, but she was more comfortable fighting with her knife. She saw Percy enter the ring with an Ares kid. His name might have been Matt or something. Annabeth didn't really care much for Ares' children, although she would put her life on the line for them. She would for anyone at camp. Percy and Matt stood at ready stance, and there was an air of tension between them.

Chiron blew his horn to start the battle. Percy struck immediately, surprising Matt. Matt was a skilled fighter though, he dodged at the last second, and swung back with full force. Percy held his ground, and they had a battle of strength for a moment. Annabeth looked at Percy's face again, completely determined. They met eyes, and Percy looked away quickly, slightly blushing.

That only meant Annabeth's face flushed red, although she didn't know why. Well, there was an explanation for why she was acting like this… But no. That can't be it.

She focused back onto the fight, and was surprised. Percy lost his balance, and Matt pushed him to the ground. Matt slashed down, but Percy rolled out of the way and jumped back up to his feet. Percy parried, and Matt's arm recoiled back into an uncomfortable angle from the force. Matt doubled over, and Percy took the chance to knock him down with his sword hilt. Matt crumpled, and it was over. The crowd cheered, and chanted Percy's name. Happiness surged in her heart. Seeing Percy win so easily and plaster that stupid smile on his face just made Annabeth kiss him.

Did she just think that? No… Annabeth's stomach lurched. It can't be. She looked at Percy one more time, who was grinning at the crowd. No, not the crowd. Silena. She suddenly felt a fiery jealousy piercing her heart, and Annabeth realized.

Oh no no _no._

_She had a crush on Perseus Jackson._

She put her head into her hands, despite everyone around her standing and cheering. She tried to think. It might not be a crush. It could be just… infatuation because Percy won, making him look attractive or something.

She looked up, and saw Silena squealing and hugged Percy. Silena quickly looked uncomfortable, and pulled away. Silena looked at Annabeth, and realized Annabeth was watching.

Annabeth had to sort things out.

She abruptly got up, and swiftly walked out of the colosseum.

xxx

Percy saw Annabeth leave the colosseum without saying anything to him. What happened?

"Is something wrong with Annabeth?" he whispered to Silena.

"I don't know! You won now, you proved her wrong, and you should have stolen her heart! What went wrong?" Silena exclaimed.

"I thought you said this plan was flawless!"

"Well, it should be! Annabeth's just weird! Dude, she probably doesn't like you_ that _much. Or… Is it because she saw me hug you! THAT'S IT! GO AFTER HER!" Silena shrieked.

"What do you mean? How do you know?" Percy asked, dumbfounded.

"Just go! You'll lose her!"

"But the trophy…"

"GO! Atta boy!" Silena pushed Percy away. Percy looked back at her one more time, only to see her widen her eyes and wave her hands to shoo him away. Percy sighed, and jogged after Annabeth's direction.

He finally found her sitting in the mess hall, staring at nothing. Even with a blank expression, Annabeth looked so pretty. Little blond strands framed her face, and her stormy gray eyes were slightly unfocused. He slowed, and wasn't sure if he should really talk to her first. His heart was pounding, and his legs felt a little wobbly. But Annabeth noticed him, and Percy stared back like an idiot.

Percy now _had_ to go up to her. He meekly smiled, and went to sit next to her.

"Uh...hey." Percy greeted awkwardly. Annabeth glared at him, and looked down.

"Annabeth. What's wrong?" he pushed. Annabeth avoided his gaze. He got a little frustrated, because he just went and won a tournament for her to go and ignore him like this. Well, she didn't exactly ask him to do all that, but still.

"Hey. There's no need to ignore me, you know. And the reason we're fighting was your fault, anyways." Percy said.

At that, Annabeth sharply turned around and practically snarled. "_My_ fault? Oh, so now this is my fault?"

"What are you saying? You're the one who told me my skills were pretty much from my dad!" Percy countered.

"Because you did!" Annabeth shouted.

"That doesn't mean I can't fight without it! You saw me just now!" Percy yelled back.

"What?"

"Oh, my gods. I can't believe I just went and won a tournament like that just to prove that to you."

"To prove it to me? Did I ask you to do that? And, you obviously did that just to show off to Silena."

_Silena?_ Percy thought. _Oh, I see. Wait, What? That was for you! _He clenched his fists in frustration. Things were _not_ supposed to go this way.

"Ugh, you are so _stupid._ You were being an obvious flirt. Like, you should at least try to hide it."

"No! That was- That was supposed to be.." Percy sighed. It would defeat the purpose to outright tell her he was showing off for _her._ This was all so complicated. He gave up. "You know, why do you care anyway?"

"Because… Because…" she sputtered. Her cheeks colored.

"It's really none of your business, whether we were flirting or not. Why are you getting angry over something like that?" Percy continued.

Annabeth suddenly screamed in exasperation. She put her hands to her head for a few moments. Slowly, she looked back up, face red from shouting and arguing.

"You really want to know why I care?" she calmly said. Now this scared Percy.

"Go ahead, tell me." Percy challenged. The way she was handling was creeping him out a _lot._ What was she thinking?

Annabeth fisted the front of his shirt, and he embraced himself for the punch about to hit his face.

Instead, he felt something soft crush his lips.

Annabeth kissed him.

She pulled away as quick as she kissed him, and she abruptly stood up. She was panting, now with her face as bright as a tomato.

Percy was dazed, and mumbled something unintelligible.

Annabeth glared at him a little longer, and stormed off, swearing a string of Ancient Greek curses into the sky.

She kissed him. Percy still felt the tingle on his lips. Percy couldn't think straight. What was going on?

_Ah,_ he realized after a while. _She likes me._

Wait, she liked him!?

This was so complicated. Percy sighed, and agreed with Beckendorf. He would take a haywire dragon over dealing with girls any day.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:Thanks for reading and enjoying! short continuation of last chapter:)

/

Annabeth would do anything in the world to just turn back time a few hours. Oh, my gods, what will Annabeth do? No, this can't be happening. The Fates can't be this cruel. But the thing was, they can be.

Annabeth was in her bed right now, and luckily was alone because everyone was still out celebrating the winners and runner-ups of the tournament. There was a feast or something, Annabeth didn't remember or care. She screamed again into her poor pillow.

_What was she thinking?_

Unfortunately nothing when she kissed him. Even worse, she _liked_ it. Ugh. Why did it have to be Percy? He is already impossible enough as it is. But he was dependant and trustworthy when you needed it. How is she going to see him now?

Annabeth jumped when she heard her door creaking open. Percy? On impulse, she chucked her pillow at the intruder.

She was facing a startled Malcolm, and Annabeth reprimanded herself. Why would Percy come here? That was incredibly foolish.

"Uh… Are you coming to the celebratory dinner?" Malcolm finally asked.

Percy would be there. She can't see him. Now now. "No, I'm not in the mood. Sorry!" Annabeth replied. Malcolm slowly nodded at her, and left. 

She decided to take a walk, and try to ignore reality for a bit.

xxx

Percy prodded his mashed potatoes lazily, he didn't have much of an appetite. Everyone was laughing and eating around him. It was nice to be eating with his friends like this, but something still felt empty. He lifted his goblet to take a sip, but hesitated. It felt really weird to just put anything to his lips at the moment, because…

Percy furiously blushed, and faced down to the mauled mashed potatoes.

Grover, who was seated next to him, whispered, "Hey, you're not looking good. Cheer up, this is for your victory! What's up?"

"Sorry, I guess I'm just really tired from the tournament," Percy lied. From looking at Grover, it was obvious he knew he was lying. Well, the fact that they had an empathy link didn't help. Percy ignored it, and poked his mashed potatoes a little more.

Did that mean Annabeth liked him? He was sure she always had a crush on Luke, though. But she never kissed _Luke_, she kissed _him._ How should Percy react? Does this mean they're dating now? What? He was pretty sure dating needed consent from both sides. So can he kiss her back or something? Percy shook his head to clear his thoughts. Girls were so complicated. He had to get out and get some air.

He got up, ready to leave.

"Woah, Percy. Where are you going?" Grover asked with a look of worry.

"Dude, I'm fine. I just need some air, and I'm not into mashed potatoes anyways." Percy reassured, and he quickly excused himself before Grover protested anymore.

Percy briskly walked outside, impatient for some space. The sun was already down, and stars were plastered across the night sky at Camp Half-Blood. He heard the naiads back at the lake softly giggling and gossiping, maybe even about him. Blushing, Percy realized they probably saw what

His thoughts wandered back to Annabeth. He wondered what she was thinking about now. Was she as worried as he was about what had happened?

Unlikely. Annabeth was always in control of her emotions and thoughts. Although it didn't seem that way when she kissed him…

Percy suddenly tripped over his own shoes and fell flat on his face. He groaned, and slowly got up. His face was still facing down, and he saw a familiar pair of sneakers worn by a certain blonde he knew.

Percy froze, and kept his face down. Annabeth.

xxx

Annabeth stood still as she watched Percy on his butt staring at her shoes. Gods, he was such a dork sometimes, she didn't know why she liked him so much. Finally, Annabeth kicked a little dust into his face, and he coughed and lurched back.

"What- What was that for!?" Percy sputtered. Percy's eyes watered, and he rubbed his face furiously.

"For being an absolute moron." Annabeth said with a blank face.

Percy's face suddenly contorted into horror, and Annabeth wondered what was wrong.

"Hey, uh. Don't take it so seriously," Annabeth added, worried he was actually hurt by that.

"Seriously? Don't take what seriously?" Percy questioned, looking a lot more angry now.

"What are you saying now? What is going on with you?" Annabeth exclaimed. Annabeth knew exactly what he was talking about, but she didn't know how she should answer, or if Percy would accept her answer.

"The-! Okay, so was that supposed to be a joke or something? To get back at me or something?" Percy nearly shouted.

"Why in the world would that be a joke?" Annabeth defended. Why was he so dense sometimes? Was she supposed to scream out that she had a crush on him?

"Then what do you mean by tha-" Annabeth interrupted, leaning down to kiss him.

Annabeth closed her eyes, and lingered. His lips tasted like the ocean, strangely salty. Last time, she was acting so rashly she couldn't really… enjoy it. That sounded really weird. Now, Annabeth didn't care anymore. Percy doesn't have to like her back, she was just going to show him how she felt from now on.

After some of the longest seconds in her life, she pulled away only to see a completely dazed Percy.

A few more seconds passed until he managed to say, "Does this mean you like me?"

Annabeth slapped herself on the forehead. This MORON.

"YES, SEAWEED BRAIN! MUST I SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU LIKE THIS! THEN AGAIN, YOU HAVE DYSLEXIA SO YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO GET IT THEN EITHER, WOULD YOU?" Annabeth was done with this blockhead, that idiotic, moronic, most retarded -

Then she was kissing him again. For real. And it was Percy who got up to kiss her this time.

She broke away for a few seconds to whisper, "I'll take it that means you feel the same way?"

Percy softly laughed and closed the distance between them, holding her close.

Annabeth sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was rather exhausting to like this idiot, but Annabeth was starting to think it was worth it.

xxx

The only thing was that neither of them noticed Silena Beauregard in the darkness, giggling evilly as she saw her master plan come together. She was trying to find Percy so he can hurry up and make up with Annabeth, but it seemed that he did well on his own. Silena had to say she was rather impressed by him for once. Too bad she didn't see them before she was searching for him for half an hour. But that didn't matter anymore, the cutest couple at camp finally got together. Well, after her and Charlie of course.

Silena skipped away happily, ready to spread the juicy gossip and give Percy and Annabeth some alone time to just enjoy each other's company for a while.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:Hey! Sorry that took a while, but it seems I'll be a little slower on updating these days… And if you want to, you can follow me on tumblr at dude-whatjusthappened! Warning, my blog is multi-fandom so enter if you dare…

/

Percy is so dead.

It was a stupid dare, but he didn't imagine things to get this intense.

A few days ago, Travis Stoll bet Percy that he wasn't brave enough to break Clarisse's second spear, Maimer. He had broken her first one a few years ago, and Travis thought it would be perfect if Percy was the one to break her second one. Another reason he was probably so anxious to break her spear is because he was knocked out by it in a past game of Capture the Flag. Percy agreed for some reason, got a little hyped up, and ended up flooding the Ares cabin. It turned out later that no one was in there but Clarisse. She didn't drown, but she was thrown into an absolute rage. She was storming through camp trying to find out who did it. Two of her siblings were sent to the infirmary trying to calm her down. Clarisse swore on the River Styx that she will get revenge, and frankly she was scaring Percy to death. Travis had been a good soul so far and didn't tell her, but it seemed that the secret was about to spill. Luckily, Clarisse wasn't the brightest girl you would ever meet, so Percy was laying low. That was until Clarisse took a hint from rumors spreading around camp, and confronted him.

He could smell the hot breath from Clarisse as she snarled, and grimaced. They were standing in the middle of an empty volleyball court, where Clarisse demanded earlier that they should have 'a talk.' Percy couldn't exactly not go, because that would just mean Percy was a wimp.

"You know what, runt? You thought I wouldn't find out, huh? Are you joking with me? YOU'RE DEAD, PUNK!" Clarisse screamed.

"Uh, Clarisse, I-" Percy was cut off when Clarisse jumped him, her bulky frame overpowering his smaller body. He expected this to happen, but that didn't mean he was prepared. She punched him over and over again, and Percy tried to uselessly wrench his body away from her fists. Percy groaned as the blows registered into his body, and blocked his face. In a way, Percy did deserve this punishment. He'll have to get back at Travis later for making him do this, but for now Percy could only squeeze his eyes shut and pray for it to end soon.

Out of nowhere, though, the heavy weight on him was suddenly lifted, and he saw Clarisse on her butt a few feet away. For a moment, Percy was fooled that the gods really did answer his prayers. Before he could ask himself how she really got there, he saw a familiar Yankee's cap Annabeth's hands, who was standing in between them. Her eyes had a dangerous glint in them, and her curly blonde hair bounced as she tilted her head. Percy tried to send her a silent question, but Annabeth wasn't paying attention to him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Clarisse roared.

"Clarisse! You should try and _think_ before you believe any rumors going around camp and beating someone up!" Annabeth shouted. Percy wanted to correct Annabeth that he _was_ the one that flooded their cabin, but Percy was still curled up on the floor recovering from the relentless pain wrenching in his gut.

"Shut up! What do you know, anyways? Trying to be the hero and save your little boyfriend?" Clarisse sneered. Percy and Annabeth both turned red at that comment.

Percy slowly got up, and managed to say, "Annabeth, this is none of your business. You don't have to-"

"I flooded your cabin, Clarisse! Not Percy!" Annabeth declared. _What?_

Clarisse looked as baffled as Percy, and said, "Don't be stupid, Princess. Who else could flood a cabin like the son of the sea god can, huh?"

Percy really appreciated and wondered why she would do this for him, but that was true. He was the only candidate that could really flood the Ares cabin.

"Simple mechanics, Clarisse. Only a brute like you wouldn't understand. It only took a little tweaking into your pipes, and the magic unraveled itself." Annabeth shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. Realization dawned on Clarisse's face, and it contorted into rage. She sent one death glare to Percy, and turned her attention back to Annabeth.

They had a short staring contest, until Clarisse let out an ugly scream and charged towards Annabeth. Annabeth already saw it coming, and tackled Clarisse back. They screamed curses, hit each other and wrestled on the floor. It wasn't a duel in any sort, it was just a catfight gone out of control. Percy didn't know what to do, and just stared at them from his position at the court.

Things were getting worse by the second, and they were both bruised and bleeding. Percy said something inaudible, and tried to move to stop but stopped abruptly. Percy was thinking that he cracked a rib or something, because it was painful to breath. It was lame to say he got his rib nearly broken by a girl, but this was Clarisse. He felt horrible because this was all this fault, and Annabeth took the blame for him. But why? Percy helplessly looked around for a little help, because even if he was in good condition he would not be able to take on both Clarisse and Annabeth.

Percy didn't know how long had passed until Chiron and Grover stumbled past them. Chiron had to call over five campers to pull the girls apart. They were both in an almost scary state by then, clothes tattered and black and blue was decorating their bodies. They didn't even have any weapons on them and they beat each other up pretty well.

Campers helped the three up to the Big House, and they had to use a cot for Annabeth and Clarisse. Annabeth was knocked out, but Clarisse was grumbling gibberish about revenge and blondes. Chiron gave Annabeth a look of worry, and trotted ahead. Percy had his arm around Travis for support. Percy settled for glaring at Travis instead of beating him into the dirt for now.

In the infirmary, Percy dragged a chair next to where Annabeth was sleeping. Percy only suffered minor bruises, and one of his ribs were fractured. Clarisse sprained her wrist, and had cuts everywhere. Annabeth nearly had a concussion, and twisted her ankle. It was nighttime, and everyone was gone except the patients, which all except Percy were asleep. Her face was peaceful, and strands of hair were stuck to her face along with dried blood. Percy brushed her hair out of her face, and let it linger on her cheek. Percy couldn't get over how Annabeth pretty much saved Percy's butt from getting kicked, but she got hurt in his stead. He cursed himself. Other people were always getting hurt because he was too weak.

He felt something move, and saw Annabeth's wide eyes staring at him. Percy realized his hand was still on her cheek. He quickly removed it, hoping the dim candlelight would mask his flushed expression.

"I was, uh, there was something on your face." Percy dumbly said. Annabeth raised an eyebrow, and lifted herself into sitting position. She winced, and Percy immediately aided her. "You should rest more," he softly said.

"No, I'm not that tired anymore." Annabeth looked tired, though. She also decided to slide back down to resting her head on the pillow, looking up at Percy.

"Not tired, huh?" Percy weakly joked.

"And whose fault is it exactly that I'm here?" Annabeth countered. Percy didn't have an answer for that. He averted his gaze, and eyed the scratchy blanket on the cot.

"Percy, it's fine. I was joking, it's okay," Annabeth assured.

"It is my fault. You know it." Percy said.

"Alright, so? Someone needs to look after your scrawny self."

Percy paused for a moment, and then asked, "Annabeth, why did you do that for me?"

"You would do it for me." Annabeth's murmured.

Percy didn't say anything, but he knew he would have done the same for her. Even if it was as stupid as taking a blame for some prank. Annabeth studied Percy's face a bit, and sighed. She rolled her eyes, as if Percy was the most stupid person she ever met. Percy watched as her eyelids slowly fluttered and closed. Her chest rose and fell in a soft rhythm, with small puffs of breath.

Percy put his head down on her cot, and settled in to sleep. He stayed by her side the whole night, because he knew she would too.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Okay, I guess this is an AU in a way. What if Annabeth was the one with the Achilles' Curse(I know it doesn't make sense bear with me), and Percy took the knife for her? Because I mean, they would die for each other :)

/

In the midst of the chaos, Percy nearly froze when he saw Ethan Nakamura sneaking up behind Annabeth with a knife. Percy felt a chill run up his spine, and his instincts were screaming at him to move. Ethan rose the knife, and Percy let out a strangled gasp. He brought the knife down, but not before Percy jumped in the way and took it in his shoulder.

Percy was stupid, he knew. Annabeth was practically immortal, but why did he take it for her?

Percy clutched his shoulder, and Annabeth turned around, taking in what just happened. It felt like fire was scorching his shoulder, and Percy choked back a scream. Poison. Perfect. Ethan seemed perplexed, because he knew Annabeth was invincible too. In that moment of shock, Annabeth slammed the hilt of her knife and dented Ethan's helmet, and he crumpled like a rag doll. Percy lost balance and fell back into Annabeth. She caught him, her hands trembling as they held him carefully.

Percy took a shaky breath, and Annabeth's hands tightened around him. He looked up at her face, seeing Annabeth's face contorted in rage. She roared, brandishing her knife so the enemy demigods backed away. Kronos had a glint of amusement in his eye. Kronos said something, but it was all mush in his ears.

He felt Annabeth moving him, and he felt the air pressure get thinner as he realized he was being carried away by Blackjack. "Thanks, Blackjack." Percy mumbled. He wanted to stay in the battle, but he knew how useless he was at this state. He just hoped that Annabeth would be able to manage back at the bridge.

"Boss, please shut your mouth." He could hear the worry in his voice, then Percy blacked out.

xxx

Percy woke up feeling like his tongue was sandpaper. He saw Will examining his wound, and Percy clenched his teeth as he poured some mortal medicine on him. In the corner of his eye, he saw Annabeth waiting in a chair, her knuckles white as she was holding her knees. Will noticed him flinching, and he looked relieved.

"Percy!" he cried. Will wiped sweat off of his brow, and sat back on a lounge chair. He looked exhausted from healing him. He felt bad, but remembered that he probably wasn't the only one wounded. Percy looked around, and saw that they were on a terrace. The view was nice, but that didn't really concern him. He weakly smiled at Will, expressing that he was alive and slightly well.

Annabeth abruptly got up, and hurried over to Percy's side.

"What happened at the bridge?" Percy asked.

"THAT'S THE FIRST THING THAT COMES IN MIND?" Annabeth screamed.

Will winced, and said, "Annabeth, please. You know, I think we'll need some more mortal supplies to deal with some excess poison." Annabeth glared at Percy for that, and Will cleared his throat. "I'll go now, I need to find someone to get them for me." He got up and hurried over to some Athena kids, handing them some notes and talking to them.

"Annabeth?" Percy tried again.

Annabeth glared at him again, and sighed. "The bridge was weakening already, so I brought it down by hitting some weak points. We delayed them, but Michael…" she didn't finish her sentence. She didn't need to. Percy sunk lower in the couch he was laying in. The movement made Percy grimace in pain, alerting Annabeth about his injury again.

"Why did you take the knife for me?" Annabeth's voice hardened. "You're so STUPID!" she screamed. "Why did you do that? Who asked you to? I was doing FINE, Percy! You KNEW I would have been okay!" she paused and took a shaky breath. "You had to step your moronic self in and nearly die! If you're going to do something like that, DON'T GET HURT!" Annabeth's face was red, and she harshly exhaled.

"I know. It was… It was stupid, I know. You're invincible, I'm sorry." Percy apologized. He knew she could take care of herself, but it was just an instinct.

"Why?" she repeated. Annabeth looked younger with that innocent expression on her face. She was really cute. Like always. He was feeling a little woozy from all that happened to him.

Percy thought for a moment, and replied, "You would do the same for me."

Annabeth stayed silent, and Percy was alarmed to see tears pool in her eyes.

"How did you know?" she whimpered. She sniffed, and tears traced her cheeks.

"What?" Percy said.

"You… If you hadn't taken that knife, I would've died." she quietly said. "From- from the angle of the knife, to be honest, it would have hit my weak spot. You saved my life." She sobbed.

Percy's heart almost stopped. If he didn't take the knife, then Annabeth would've… He shut his eyes. He can't even bring himself to think about it. "Then I'm glad I took the knife."

"Percy, stop." she was crying harder now.

"Where is the weak spot?" Percy softly asked.

Annabeth stared at him for a long time. She finally took his hand, and brought it to the small of her back, opposite of her bellybutton. "I know I can trust you," she whispered.

Percy smiled, and gripped her hand tighter. Annabeth started crying again, and put her head lightly on his chest. He held her close, and rubbed her back.

Annabeth fell asleep on him, and he could only laugh. She was pushing herself way too hard the past few days, he would have himself if he had Annabeth's ability. He rubbed circles into her hand lazily. He glanced at it, noticing all the calluses and scars on her hand from fighting for all those years. Things were obviously hard for her, Percy just wished he could leave her somewhere safe until things were better and take her out, but he knew that was selfish. If Annabeth knew that, she would chew him out and kick his butt, droning on about sexism and guys wanting to be the hero. But that was thing, Percy wanted to be the hero. Her hero. Annabeth was stronger now, nearly invincible. To be honest, he was slightly jealous of all the strength she gained. Annabeth didn't have one wound on her, and she was a quicker and stronger fighter than half the camp combined. Even if she was such a monster, here she was, snoozing away on his chest. Drooling. He snickered, remembering how she always got on his back for drooling while asleep. She looked human here with him. He wished they could stay like this forever, but he knew he couldn't avoid what was going to happen. Percy tried to sleep after that, dreading what was coming very soon.

When he woke up, Annabeth was gone. Percy tried to get up, but a electric current of pain reminded him of his injury. He stood up a little more carefully, wary of his arm. He made his way in the hotel, demigods rushing everywhere. He made eye contact with Annabeth and Thalia, who finished talking to some kids and he went over to them.

"Percy," Thalia said. "We have some visitors."

"Visitors?" Percy repeated.

She nodded grimly. "A Titan wants to see you, under a flag of truce. He has a message from Kronos."

Annabeth added, "You can't go alone. I'm coming." Thalia nodded, and looked at him.

Percy wanted to protest, that no, she'll get hurt, but he stopped himself. He remembered now, Annabeth wasn't a damsel in distress or anything. She wasn't anyone's sidekick.

Percy grinned, and said, "Let's go then, shall we?"


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Percabeth college AU! Let's see how this goes...

/

Annabeth had a strong mindset when she first entered her college campus; she wouldn't let anything faze her, because she had heard some crazy things about college life. Of course, 80% of those 'crazy things' came from T.V shows and fanfiction, but there's always partial truth in a lie. Things were going okay, she gave herself a tour around her school using the student guidebook, although from the looks she got from other students she was the _only_ one giving herself a tour around school using the guidebooks. Well, she didn't really find any circles to join or suddenly bumped into a really hot guy innocently asking her to join the cause of feeding all starving owls, but things were okay. She was ready to start the four years that would change her life.

That was until she walked into her dorm room. She had to get some help from her friend, Piper, to find the room, because Annabeth was a little lost. She had her guidebook, but it got too confusing and frustrating for her dyslexia after a while. Piper was a freshman also, but she was experienced in these kinds of things, adapting very quickly to new environments. Piper was quickly gone after that, meeting her boyfriend Jason and laughing about something discreetly. Annabeth considered the directions carefully, and made her way up to room... 310. Annabeth had missed the day she was supposed to get this information, so Piper had gotten it for her. She knew she could have gotten it via email, but she only got her first laptop a few weeks ago. She was ready to meet her new roommate, becoming best friends instantly or just ignore the weirdo she has to live with for the next semester, but she was not expecting this.

She knew that this college had co-ed dorms, but co-ed _rooms?_ That was pushing it. Annabeth had been greeted at the door by a guy with black hair and sea-green eyes that were practically boring holes into her chest. Annabeth blushed, and curtly crossed her arms over herself. It didn't seem he was doing out of attraction, though, he just seemed very, very confused.

The black-haired boy's face turned scarlet, and he cleared his throat. "Um. Hey, are you the new… roommate? You're a… girl?"

"Yes! I am a girl, and… your roommate, I think." Annabeth huffed.

"Are you _sure_ you're supposed to be in room 3-1-0?" The boy said each digit slowly, and Annabeth felt insulted. She wasn't _stupid_, if anyone, it would be him. Annabeth regarded his mismatched socks, upside-down watch, and a piece of protein bar stuck to his cheek and she rolled her eyes. But the thing was, he was pretty cute. It seemed that this would be the hot guy she 'bumped into.'

"YES!" Annabeth recollected her thoughts. She had more important things to sort out than to study how good looking but infuriating this boy in front of her was. Annabeth fished out some papers, and shoved it in his face. The boy examined them, and pouted.

"Okay, I guess. Hey, roomie." The boy said with a contradicting expression.

"You know, what about your papers?" Annabeth asked.

"What?" oh, my gods.

"We need to make sure you're in the right room, too!" The boy made a face at her, as if him making a mistake like that is absolutely unfathomable. Annabeth sighed in exasperation and searched the room. After finally finding something resembling the documents in the boy's hands under a box of half-eaten pizza, Annabeth scrutinized the papers.

With her heart dropping in her stomach, she realized that there was no mistake. She made eye contact with the boy, and he understood. They both put down the papers, and awkwardly shuffled with their belongings. Annabeth carried her suitcase over to the bed on the opposite of where she assumed he would sleep in.

That was okay. She'll be fine, Annabeth will just ask for a change in rooms. But she had heard this year that the dorms were packed; it would cause too much disturbance to change rooms now. She would leave a bad impression on the school, and her marks will go down, and she'll get expelled, and she'll be a disappointment to her family and die alone with no job. Maybe not exactly, but close enough.

She suddenly heard the boy say something, although he was mumbling so she couldn't hear anything. "What?" she said.

"Percy." he cast his eyes on the floor, now standing above her on her bed.

"Okay, thank you for telling a useless name for no reason." Annabeth sarcastically replied. She knew it was his name, she was just poking fun on how flustered he seemed on introducing himself.

"Hilarious, what's yours? Assuming you are named?" Percy snorted.

"Annabeth," she said. What else are they supposed to do? This was so awkward, Annabeth just wished Percy was female! Annabeth was sitting quietly on the edge of her bed with Percy hovering over her, he has to move! They stared at each other a little, taking in what they have to deal with for a semester. He was honestly very cute, with a tall and lean build. Annabeth shook that thought out. She can't fall for a guy she knew for ten minutes, that was stupid.

Suddenly her phone in her pocket rang, and they both jumped. Annabeth stomped on his toes, causing him to howl in pain.

"Sorry!" Annabeth apologized. She answered the call, hearing Piper's familiar voice.

"Hey! How's college so far?" Piper chirped. Her voice was unusually happy today, but it was probably the buzz from moving into the dorms.

Annabeth refused to complain to Piper about all the problems she faced, she had too much pride. "Good! Everything's going just fine." she answered.

"How's your roomie? Hit it up with her?" She could hear Piper smiling through the phone.

"He- uh She's great, and really nice." Annabeth lied. From the floor where Percy was wincing in pain, he raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, actually-" he started, but Annabeth silenced him with her foot.

"What was that?" Piper innocently asked.

"Nothing," Annabeth said quickly.

"Don't lie to me! Really, who is it?" Piper pressed.

"Okay, uh… He's a boy friend." Annabeth said, before realizing what it sounded like.

"YOUR BOYFRIEND?" Piper shrieked.

"No, I meant, a guy friend, that I'm not dating," Annabeth explained, but Piper was still screaming into the phone.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? Annabeth!" She said indignantly.

"Uh, well, he's a friend." Annabeth repeated.

"Oh, sorry." Annabeth didn't believe her for a second, she knew Piper smelled something fishy. Not that there was anything fishy.

"Well, can I come over for dinner? Just, you know, a small celebration dinner? And can I bring Jason?" Piper proposed.

"Okay," Annabeth replied a little too quickly, because she forgot Percy was under her at the moment.

"Alright, be there at six! See ya!" with a click their conversation was finalized.

Percy sat up with a hurt look on his face, and said, "Why did you say I was a girl?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Not important! Just know that I made plans here at dinner, so you must leave!"

"With who? Why do I have to leave, roomie?" he stuck out his lower lip. This immature little-

"My friend Piper and her boyfriend Jason, so please leave the room by 5:55, and give me your number so I can tell you when you can come back." Annabeth prompted.

"Hey! I know Jason, he talks about his girlfriend sometimes too, let's just eat together!" Percy lit up at the mention of Jason's name.

Annabeth will not let anyone know she is living with a guy she never met. Nope. "Uh, no. I don't really want to advertise the fact that I live with you, so… you must go."

"What? I smell bad or something?" Percy said.

"Percy, oh my gods. Just please."

"Fine, fine! Anything for my precious roommate," Percy winked, and Annabeth pretended to gag.

Annabeth then went to work on food, it was 5:00. She decided to make some pasta, and salad. Nice and simple. Then relax afterward with some hidden beer Annabeth knew Piper would bring.

She didn't pay attention to Percy, although she could feel him sometimes passing by or watching her cook. She tried not to blush at the attention, although there wasn't a reason that she should be blushing.

Time passed by so quickly, the bell rang just as she was done tossing the salad. Annabeth wiped her hands on a towel, and rushed to the door. 6:00. Punctual.

She suddenly skidded into a stop before bumping into Percy. Wait, Percy?

In horror, she saw that Percy had answered the door, with Piper and Jason standing outside. They looked amazing, like always. Percy looked like he was just about to leave, that stupid moron was supposed to be out five minutes ago. Anyways, Piper was giving Annabeth a sly look and faced Percy. Piper and Jason were already in the room, Piper in front of her as Jason wandered.

"You're sneaky, trying to leave right when we come! And Annabeth, why is your 'guy friend' staying for so long? You're hiding something, LIAR!" Piper declared. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Uh, Piper," Annabeth started to explain.

"Hey, is this… his?" Jason picked up a pair of boxers. Annabeth blushed, and Piper looked like she caught Annabeth red-handed.

"He's LIVING WITH YOU?" Piper exclaimed. "As your _roommate_? So you really don't know him?" Piper's expression changed from hurt to fury.

For some reason, Annabeth wanted Piper to be the last one to know that she was put into a room with a boy she never met. Piper was a die-hard feminist. That didn't mean she hated men, it meant she wanted woman to have equal rights, and Annabeth had heard about it enough. Annabeth was a feminist, too, but she wasn't really as strict as Piper. This rooming was obviously really weird, so it would seem as if Annabeth requested to be with a guy, although that didn't seem legal. Piper would never let her hear the end of how Annabeth shouldn't be so desperate for a guy, women live for themselves, don't think you can't live up to who you are because you're a woman without a man… Piper was excellent at talking about such topics, or really she was good at talking in general. Piper will end up talking Annabeth into joining some feminist cult, convince her to shave her head, and join a million different protest rallies. Piper will then file a complaint, and cause more problems in school than Annabeth needed. Which all sounded wonderful, but Annabeth really had to study on focusing, because architecture wasn't the easiest major.

"Okay, he's my boyfriend! We wanted to live together in the dorms, so we made a request! We have been dating for a few months now, I'm _so_ sorry for not telling you. I was… embarrassed, that's all." Annabeth blurted. Shoot. Percy looked confused, and started to open his mouth. Annabeth brought a finger to his lips, and put on a fake smile. "It's okay, babe. It's not a big deal." She secretly gave him a look saying _you better not say anything or I will kick you out_. Percy obliged and nodded.

"Oh, my Annabeth. You should have said so sooner! Oh well, let's have dinner together then! You made enough food, right?" Piper said. Annabeth made a sound that might have been a yes, and headed over to the dinner table. "Oh, and I brought some beer." She gestured outside, and Jason brought in two six-packs.

"You didn't say anything about a girl," Jason told Percy as he went to join Piper.

"Yeah, slipped my mind." Percy weakly replied. Jason and Piper went to sit down, and Percy grabbed Annabeth's arm and whispered harshly into her ear. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Sorry! It's just… I can't let her know I'm living with a male stranger, Piper will kill you, me, and burn down the school. Please play along. I'll- I'll do anything," Annabeth said in a low voice.

Percy hesitated, and finally nodded. "Fine, but anything, okay?" Annabeth agreed and pulled him to the table.

They started eating pasta, and Piper squealed, "Hey, we can start going on double dates now! This is perfect!"

A pit formed in Annabeth's stomach, and she realized she was going to pretend she was dating him for quite a while. She exchanged glances with Percy, who realized the same thing.

Annabeth smiled Piper, who was beaming. A little too much. Annabeth faced down to her pasta, and gave a long sigh. This was going to be a long night.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Okay, in a way, this will probably be really random, hope it's not too bad! Continuation of the last chapter:) Thank you all for just staying with me, I appreciate it so much^^

/

After finishing their food, they had resigned to relaxing on the couch, sipping a little beer. Piper and Jason were snuggling in a love chair, and Annabeth was forcing herself to lean on Percy's shoulder. Percy's arm was stiff around her, and they would constantly exchange nervous glances when Piper and Jason weren't looking. Annabeth was also forcing down nervous butterflies every time she felt Percy move against her.

It was like this the whole night, Annabeth would get all blushy and embarrassed whenever Percy had to pretend that they were dating. For example, Piper urged Percy to feed her, and she erupted into a pile of giggles with Jason when Annabeth bit her tongue really hard because she was shaking so much. Piper had also tried to get them to eat the same noodle and kiss at the end, but they both turned it down immediately. Neither of them were willing to go that far for an act. She nearly jumped countless times when they ate, while Piper and Jason were just comfortably holding hands or lazily brushing against each other. Annabeth would get jealous when she watches them, and Percy's face would flash across her mind. She would get so confused, too, because she doesn't even _know_ him.

They were just talking about their summer, and people they've met on campus. Annabeth didn't have much to say, because she pretty much just got here. But Percy, Piper, and Jason came early, and were all pretty social people so they had many stories to share.

Piper was talking about a sweet girl she met majoring in archaeology named Hazel. Piper said she was a great person, but strangely acted like she was from the 40's.

Jason raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Does she have a boyfriend named Frank?"

"How'd you know?" Piper questioned.

"Oh, we played football together back in high school! We were pretty close, I remember him saying that he was coming here too, I wonder where he is." Percy muttered in agreement, saying something about having marine biology together.

"Hey! You know what would be a great idea? We should call them over!" Piper exclaimed.

"Uh, wait… I don't know them," Annabeth weakly offered.

"It's fine, we can introduce each other," Piper waved her hand. Annabeth wanted to object, but the beer was slowing her down. Piper made a quick call, and shut the phone announcing that they were on their way.

"Great, a bigger audience." Percy muttered under his breath.

"Please, just keep going," Annabeth urged. She looked up at him, and realized they were nose to nose. If she just leaned in, they would do that super cute spiderman-kiss… Annabeth took control of herself. They're not really dating. _I would totally go out with him, though._ she thought. Where had that come from? Her thoughts were getting slightly cloudy, and she could tell Percy thought about their proximity also. His face glowed scarlet and he averted his gaze.

The doorbell rang, and Jason and Piper got up to let them in. Annabeth stayed on his shoulder. They were leaning comfortably into each other now, and she slowly nestled into his chest. Percy wrapped both arms around her, and she was moving closer to him…

"Hey, you lovebirds! Greet your guests!" Piper smiled wickedly. They both jumped, saying hi to Hazel and Frank. Hazel looked very young for her age, and she could she what Piper meant about her acting like she was from a long time ago. She had a skirt high up her waist, but it poofed around down to her knees. She had a collar shirt under her knit sweater, but frankly it suited her; she looked cute. Her bouncy mahogany hair fell playfully around her cocoa-brown skin. Frank stood awkwardly next to her, and he was wearing a letterman jacket, and regular denim jeans. He looked asian, and reminded her of a big panda. Their height difference was considerable large, but adorable. Piper handed them both a beer and they all settled back around the living room.

Percy and Annabeth sat back next to each other on the couch, but they went back to their uncomfortable shoulder-leaning. Annabeth wanted to continue their snuggling, but she felt too aware to do it now. Everyone sat quietly for a moment, until Jason piped up with a suggestion to break the ice, "How about a game of Truth or Dare?"

"We're not in middle school, Jason." Piper rolled her eyes.

"Why, you nervous?" Jason probed.

"Hey, it just reminds of old times, why not!" Frank smiled. Hazel agreed, and everyone looked at Percy and Annabeth.

Percy gave a meaningful to Annabeth, and she understood. This wasn't very safe ground to walk on, but they couldn't object now. Annabeth gave a small smile, and nodded.

They gathered and sat down in a small circle on the floor.

"Uh, are we supposed to have a bottle to spin right now or something?" Jason asked.

"No, you moron! Unless you want to play Spin the Bottle," Piper gave a dirty smirk, and made Annabeth's stomach lurch.

"Hey." She turned towards Percy. "The homeowner should start us first."

Percy awkwardly sat still for a moment, thinking. He seemed to have thought of something, and said, "Okay… Frank." Frank nearly jumped. "Who was the one that really stole my swimsuits that one time and make me run around the school naked?"

Annabeth choked, and Hazel started fanning herself. She will not imagine this scenario, she will not imagine this scenario, she will not imagine this scenario…

"It was Jason!" Frank squeaked, after fidgeting uncomfortably for a few seconds. Percy made an evil face, and pounced after Jason.

Jason seemed to have seen this coming, because he was already running, and he smacked Frank on the face when he ran past. Frank seemed dazed, then got up and started chasing Jason.

Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel all looked very unamused as they watched their boyfriends(well, one was fake) chase each other and ruin the dorm.

Piper cleared her voice, and yelled, "HEY! COME BACK AND SIT YOUR BUTTS DOWN BEFORE I KICK IT FOR YOU!" Jason halted immediately, and Frank bumped into him. Piper crumpled a beer can, and threw it at Percy. Piper was at least 30 yards away from him, but somehow the can hit him square in the face very hard. Percy howled in pain and rubbed his nose. Jason glared at him, but a glance at Piper stopped him. The three boys started muttering insults at each other as they took a seat.

"All right." Piper took a calm breath. "Let's continue, shall we?" She shared a knowing look with Jason, and suddenly his expression shifted cynically.

"Annabeth," Piper turned to her. "Kiss Percy for me."

"Huh?" Annabeth was at a lost for words. The very thing she was avoiding all night… But did she really not want to do it?

"Come, on, Pipes. That's lame. We're honestly not in middle school." Jason drawled. Piper elbowed him hard, and he seemed to understand quickly.

"Really?" Hazel raised an eyebrow. She was petting Frank's hair, and his eyes were drooping. What a cute couple.

Jason vigorously nodded and Piper said, "Yeah! Well, because they're not- well, Annabeth here lied to me about dating him, so I wanna see how cute they are together before I truly forgive her."

Hazel gave a soft smile, like she was reminiscing about something. It was strange, Hazel just seemed so much older than she actually was. Frank had curled up in her lap, snoozing away. Hazel herself seemed ready to sleep. The clock read 11:00. Already? How was that possible?

"Out already? You guys just got here," Jason smirked. On the contrary, he wasn't looking so awake either.

Percy seemed to be at a lost for words. And rather blushy, but it was probably because he was drunk. Well, since he was drunk, and Annabeth herself was a little woozy, it can't be that bad. Everyone was also sleeping or looking like they were going to pass out soon.

Before she can think anymore, she grabbed Percy's face, and gave him a quick peck.

Percy's eyes were wide, and Annabeth was focusing on the frays on her socks.

Piper _tsk-tsk_ed them and scolded, "How can you call that a kiss? You guys are such kids."

"Wanna show them how to reeeeally kiss?" Jason slurred his words. Jason snuggled his head in Piper's neck, and snored immediately. Piper sighed, and started rubbing his neck.

"Well, everyone's asleep." Annabeth managed. Her heart was about to explode just from that, she can not kiss him again.

"Everyone?" Piper questioned. Her voice was wavering, and her head kept nodding off.

Annabeth glanced at Percy, only to find him staring back at her. Okay, Annabeth _really_ wanted to kiss her new roommate. Things may turn out super awkward, but…

Surprisingly, Percy leaned towards her first. Annabeth closed her eyes, and they carefully fit their mouths together.

His arms snaked around her waist, and pulled her closer. Annabeth ran her fingers through his black hair, which was surprisingly soft. Annabeth hated to admit that she was liking this much more than she should've.

They sat there, kissing for who knows how long until they Piper laughed.

Annabeth just remembered she was there, and pushed Percy away. Her face was burning. What would they have looked like from her point of view?

"You guys… seem to reeally enjoy each other, haha…" Piper snicked, and she took another swig from her beer. "You know, I know you're not together, but you guys were too cute."

Annabeth's mind suddenly seemed much more clear now, and she shrieked, "What?!"

"You… guys are roommates. Well, not really." Piper continued.

"How… what?" Percy looked baffled, with his cute hair disheveled.

"Jason and I played a little joke on you, see… We wanted to secretly room together, and we got the rooming info for all four of us because… you know, you guys told us too because of circumstances, I don't know." Piper's words slowed. "It was perfect, because Jason was supposed to room with Percy and I was supposed to room with Annabeth. Then we decided to have a switcheroo, because I wanna be with Jason… You guys are too funny, though. I knew how Annabeth would freak and try to keep it a secret, so I decided to let you guys go with the flow… And it seems that you guys are okay with our arrangements…" Pipers eyes closed. She gave one last giggle, and slumped over.

Annabeth stared at Percy. Oh, my gods.

"What?" Percy finally said.

"Oh, my… I'm gonna kill Piper." Annabeth blushed. The things that Piper made Annabeth do tonight, and she _knew_… Well, what Annabeth did was pretend she was with this really cute boy next to her.

"Why? Hate me that much?" Percy put out his lower lip.

"Well… no." Annabeth said, averting her gaze. Annabeth was feeling rather sleepy herself.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Hmm?" Annabeth closed her eyes and answered. She felt something shift, and suddenly she was leaning against something. She slightly opened an eye, only to see Percy holding her.

"Mmm… Uh, Percy."

"Shhh… You're sleeping anyways." Percy wrapped his arms around her again. "Roomies do stuff like this for each other."

"You're not my roommate."

"We kind of are right now, so please fall asleep immediately." Annabeth gave an airy laugh, and snuggled into his chest. They were like this earlier, and Annabeth was happy to be continuing their snuggle-fest. Well, she was drunk so this was excusable. Annabeth slowly faded from consciousness, and memorized Percy's scent mixed with Bud Light.

The next morning, the first thing that hit her was she was on the floor cuddled into Percy and a huge migraine. What just happened? Please tell her that she didn't do anything… suggestive with someone she met the day before.

She saw Piper crashing on the floor too, and suddenly memories all came back to her.

She urgently shook Piper's shoulder until she woke up. "Piper! Piper!"

Piper groaned, and sleepily mumbled, "What? It's too early."

"What you said last night… Was it true?" Annabeth asked, but she had a pit feeling in her stomach that told her the truth.

"Last night? Please don't expect me to remember what I said last...Oh. Shoot. Uh, Annabeth, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you, but…" Piper seemed fully awake now.

Piper stared at Annabeth for a few seconds, and Annabeth couldn't really get mad. "Well, he's not a creep." she sighed.

Piper hugged Annabeth, "Ha! Thanks! Just saying, you should totally get with him." she whispered.

"Piper! I met him yesterday!" Annabeth said.

"Take your time. No one's rushing you… Unless you want to-"

"No! No, that wasn't what I was saying. But what are we gonna do about the room assignment?" Annabeth hoped that Piper couldn't notice the glow on her cheeks.

"Oh, I personally wanna keep it this way. Our room's actually like at the end of the hall, so if anyone gets suspicious we can switch out." Piper explained. Annabeth looked around, and saw that everyone was slowly waking up.

"Okay, fine. Just, uh… Convince Percy for me."

"Convince me of what?" Percy's voice from the floor startled Annabeth. He was grinning up at them.

"Well, Percy… Remember what I said when I was drunk last night? I was hoping we don't change anything…" Piper trailed off, finishing the question with a wide-eyed look to Percy.

"I don't care." he shrugged.

Piper grinned at Annabeth, and nudged her with her elbow. Annabeth ignored her.

"Oh, my gods! I'm so sorry for staying so long, we'll get going! We should have dinner again altogether one day, but thank you for having us!" Frank shouted, and grabbed Hazel and jumped out the door.

"Cutie, isn't he? He's so polite it's humourous," Piper purred. Piper watched as Jason got up, and smiled. "Well, thanks, Annabeth! And Percy! We'll visit again soon!" Piper hooked her arm around Jason's and left.

Annabeth stared.

"Well, that was a weird night," Percy concluded.

Annabeth looked at him, and sighed. "Well, roomie. We should have breakfast."

Percy looked shocked. "I'm not your boyfriend anymore?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It was pointless, anyways. They knew."

"Was it really pointless?" Percy smirked, and bumped her hip as he walked past. He was flirting, she realized. He put on a girly apron, and called in a high-pitched voice, "Come on, darling! Give baby his morning kiss!" Annabeth laughed and took a seat at the dining table.

Annabeth smiled to herself, and came to a conclusion that she might enjoy the time with her new roommate… Or maybe something else very soon.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Okay, since it's Father's Day, I just wanted to write something really short relating to it, in a way… Anyways, sorry for not updating much, it's because school's ending soon and I was kinda trampled by projects and events and finals so yeah… I'll try to update more soon! Thanks for waiting patiently:) Warning: Poseidon is probably OOC...no, he's definitely OOC.

And update: sorry for that weird ending... something went wrong so I fixed it!

/

Percy hastily wrapped a towel around his wet girlfriend, and groaned inwardly. He snuck a glance behind Annabeth, and sure enough he met eyes with Poseidon grinning at him. He was casually disguised as a normal person relaxing under an umbrella and reading a magazine. "You okay?" he asked Annabeth, full of worry. This date was going pretty horribly, even without Annabeth nearly being drowned and them being chased by oversized sea animals.

Percy had recently told Poseidon that he was taking Annabeth on a date to the beach, and he wanted to ask him to just make the sea pretty or something of the sort. Poseidon had not responded how he wanted him too. Poseidon insisted planning and hosting their date, and already had a full-scale plan on a 'perfect' date, with things ranging from swimming with exotic sea monsters or having tea 50,000 feet under sea level. Percy tried to take it back, but it was too late. Before their date, Percy had managed to turn down Poseidon's offers, but he still tagged along to add 'excitement' to their date at the beach. At first, things were going fine, they massaged sunblock on each other, bought ice cream to share, and splashed around in the sea. Then Poseidon decided to help and invited some nasty critters to nearly bite their legs off. They made it safely, but it seemed so because it looked like the thing had taken interest in another family that was playing with a ball in the water. Oops. Anyways, after they recovered, they decided to try the water again, and Poseidon then thought it would be fun to try and show Annabeth some deep-sea creatures. A small detail he forgot though, Annabeth was vulnerable to pressure and couldn't breathe underwater, so Percy had to go through a lot of trouble to save his girlfriend. Now they were sitting on the sand, exhausted and tired of the water.

Annabeth gripped the towel, and sighed. "You know, this isn't your fault." Annabeth didn't know that Poseidon was with them. Annabeth weakly smiled at Percy, and he felt a little better.

"Still," Percy said. He felt that this beach just ruined everything.

"Hey, don't blame yourself for circumstances. Anyways, I think I'll just go for today. But that means you still owe me, okay? Take me somewhere again tomorrow," she smirked, and bumped her head into his chest. Percy hugged her, and kissed her goodbye. Annabeth got up, ready to go. Percy raised an eyebrow, wondering why she wasn't going. She quickly bent down and snuck a kiss on his nose, and she smiled with her teeth, making Percy's heart race. Annabeth strut off, and Percy felt great for a moment.

"Was your date fun?" Poseidon's voice materialized above Percy. Percy looked up with an annoyed expression on his face. "Why? What happened?" Poseidon asked.

Percy sighed in exasperation. "Dad, I appreciate the effort, but honestly you completely ruined our date."

Poseidon looked shocked by this news. "What? How!? I planned for it to be perfect? What went wrong? Percy, is Annabeth mad at you now? I'm so sorry, son, I didn't mean to. I just… I just wanted to do something for you for once." he looked ashamed, and Percy couldn't stay mad.

"Whatever, it's… it's fine. Stop beating yourself up, I screw up dates worse than you ever will." Percy joked.

Poseidon gratefully looked up at him, and laughed. "All right, then. But I still owe, you then. Want me to buy you a scoop of ice cream?" he winked at Percy.

Percy started to say that he wasn't a kid, but stopped himself. "You know what, sounds great."

Poseidon swung his arm around Percy's shoulder, and guided him down and out of the beach. Percy could barely remember why he was so angry.


End file.
